English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 09/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.march09.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew12/38-45: Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here. “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 08-09/2022
The Shiite Community in Lebanon is Kidnapped, a Hostage and a Victim, and not an Embracing Environment for Hezbollah, The Iranian Proxy/Elias Bejjani/March 07/2022
President Aoun receives Iraqi Industry Minister in presence of Minister Boushekian
Aoun on Women's Day Urges for Unified Personal Status Law
Geagea, Bassil Bicker over Megacenters Plan
Report: Russia Inclined to Blame Bassil for Anti-Moscow Stances
Aoun and FPM Accused of Seeking to Postpone Elections
Nasrallah Says Lebanon's Anti-Russia Statement 'Written at U.S. Embassy'
Nassar Denies Calling for Elections Postponement in Megacenters Meeting
Sayyed Nasrallah: Lebanon should have refrained from voting for UN denunciation of Russian operation in Ukraine
Mikati meets Lebanese-Gulf Businessmen Councils Union delegation, Arab Scout delegation, calls for Cabinet session Thursday at Baabda palace
Berri meets Vice Speaker Ferzli, Deputy PM Shami, Constitutional Council Head, discusses electricity issue with Energy Minister
UN Special Coordinator Visits First LAF Gender Department and Meets Women Active in Peacebuilding Efforts in Lebanon
President, first Lebanese Lady receive delegation of FPM women marking International Women's Day
United Nations, Member States in Lebanon, civil society organizations celebrate women leading fight against environmental degradation and climate...
U.S. Provocation or Russian Aggression? Lebanese Polarized over Ukraine War
U.N., Member States in Lebanon, Civil Society Celebrate Women Leading Fight against Environmental Degradation, Climate Change
Climate Justice Requires Gender Justice: A Call to Action for Leaders in Lebanon This International Women’s Day
Leçons de l’Ukraine/Jean-Marie Kassab/08 Mars/2022

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 08-09/2022
Biden announces ban on Russian energy imports
Ukrainians Flee Besieged City as Number of Refugees Hits Two Million
Russia publishes list of 'unfriendly countries' after invasion of Ukraine
Putin is angry': U.S. intel chiefs warn that Russia may escalate attacks
Putin's invasion of Ukraine 'is really splitting Russian society,' expert explains
Ukraine War Highlights Internal Divides in Mideast Nations
Audio From FDD/Erdogan’s Diplomatic U-Turn: Prospects and Pitfalls in Turkish-Israeli Relations
Canada/Minister Joly concludes trip to Switzerland, Poland, Belgium and Romania
Canada/Statement by ministers Joly, Sajjan and Ng on International Women’s Day
50 Detained in East Libya after Prison Escape

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 08-09/2022
Biden on verge of making worst deal ever with Iran/Richard Goldberg/FDD/March 08/2022
Trudeau’s Double Standards on Iranian Immigrants/Alireza Nader/Macdonald-Laurier Institute/March 08/2022
Time to Sanction Russia’s Alternative to SWIFT/Matthew Zweig and John Hardie/Policy Brief/March 08/2022
Biden Administration Appeases Mullahs, Iran Escalates Assassinations/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/March 08/2022
This Isn’t Obama’s Iran Deal. It’s Much, Much Worse./Gabriel Noronha/The Tablet/March 08/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 08-09/2022
The Shiite Community in Lebanon is Kidnapped, a Hostage and a Victim, and not an Embracing Environment for Hezbollah, The Iranian Proxy
Elias Bejjani/March 07/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106824/elias-bejjani-the-shiite-community-in-lebanon-is-kidnapped-a-hostage-and-a-victim-and-not-an-incubating-environment-for-hezbollah/
The hard, tough and miserable living conditions that the Lebanese Shiite community is encountering on daily bases, all over occupied Lebanon, confirms at all levels, and fields, and without any doubt, that the Iranian terrorist Hezbollah, is an Iranian military proxy from A to Z, and has nothing to do with Lebanon’s Shiites, or with any other Lebanese community.
Actually, Hezbollah kidnaps and takes hostage the Shiite community, and falsely alleges that it is an embracing environment for the Iranian agenda of violence, terrorism, “Wilayat al-Faqih” Mullahs’ denominational doctrine, and expansionism schemes.
Hezbollah does not in reality pay any serious concern to the fate of the Shiite Lebanese community, in domains of safety, security and future, or otherwise it would not have placed this community in an exposed, fragile and dangerous circumstances, due to its blatant military interventions in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Gaza and numerous Arabian Gulf stated, especially, Saudi Arabia.
Hezbollah in Syria is fighting the Syrian people, openly siding with the criminal Assad regime, and doing the same thing in Yemen, Iraq, Gaza and in many other countries. If Hezbollah’s leadership really care about the fate and safety of the Shiite Lebanese community, it would have not stored its weapons caches in all Shiite villages and cities, (in residential areas) of Beirut (Dahea Sothern Suburb), south, Bekaa regions, and in other residential Shiite residential areas.
It is worth mentioning that Israel has several times posted on its official web sites an information bank that shows all the locations of Hezbollah’s weapons caches all over Lebanon.
Meanwhile, If Hezbollah cares about its Lebanese Shiite people, it would not have sent its men to be killed in Syria, in support of the criminal Syrian Assad Regime, where unofficial studies indicate the killing of nearly 4,000 young Shiites men there.
The infrastructure, social and economic services in all Lebanese Shiite villages and cities that are totally under the hegemony of Hezbollah are all very bad and extremely very primitive.
Based on all the above facts there is no embracing Shiite environment for Hezbollah in occupied Lebanon, but rather a hostage, a kidnapped and a victim community, and therefore it is the duty of the Lebanese state to liberate the Shiites from the Hezbollah captivity.
In conclusion, Hezbollah is a mere Iranian militant terrorist proxy, and has no embracing Shiite environment. In the same context, and when Lebanon is Liberated, and the UN resolutions are implemented, Hezbollah’s leadership and all its officials Must be charged, and put on trial for the crimes they have committed.

President Aoun receives Iraqi Industry Minister in presence of Minister Boushekian
NNA/March 08/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals Manhal Aziz Al-Khabbaz, in the presence of Minister of Industry, George Boushkian, today at Baabda Palace. Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon, Haider Al-Barrak, and the Lebanese Ambassador to Iraq Ali Al-Habbab also attended the meeting. Public relations between the two countries, and the steps taken to activate these relations in all fields, were tackled in addition to the steps taken to boost exchange and industrial expertise. The President praised the relations between Lebanon and Iraq, and thanked Iraqi President, Barham Salih and Iraqi officials for their support for Lebanon in various fields, and their sincere desire to cooperate for the benefit of the two brotherly countries and peoples.  The President also asserted the importance of Lebanon’s openness to Iraq, the Arab countries and the countries of the world at large to advance all its sectors, specifically in the industrial field, in which Lebanon has proven that it is capable of competition. “And this is one of the main elements capable of contributing to the process of revival that Lebanon aspires to and works towards achieving with determination and fastness” President Aoun said.
Minister Khabbaz:
After the meeting, Minister Al-Khabbaz made the following statement:
“We were honored today to meet His Excellency the Lebanese President. The meeting was good and we briefed his Excellency in general on the atmosphere of joint relations in the industrial and economic field between Iraq and Lebanon, and the outcome of the memorandum of cooperation and economic integration.  I also conveyed the greetings of the Iraqi government and His Excellency the President and His Excellency the Prime Minister. We also touched on some files that can be discussed in the field of joint cooperation in various fields”.
Minister Boushkian:
For his part, Minister Boushkian said:
“Minister Manhal Aziz Al-Khabbaz, and I had the honor to visit His Excellency the President of the Republic. We had a fruitful meeting in which we discussed industrial and exchange issues and matters between Lebanon and Iraq. His Excellency the President expressed his keenness to establish the best fraternal and solid relations with Iraq, which supports Lebanon. His Excellency the President welcomed Minister Khabbaz, and asked him to convey his greetings to the Iraqi President, officials and the brotherly Iraqi people. President Aoun wished that the Iraqis would consider Lebanon their second home.
We also discussed common matters and how to activate them within the framework of joint committees that undertake follow-up and coordination, while giving the role to the private sector and removing customs, exchange and border obstacles”.
Questions & Answers:
Then the following dialogue took place between the Lebanese and Iraqi ministers:
The ministers were asked: What are the next steps to activate the relations between the two countries?
Minister Al-Khabbaz replied: “It was agreed to activate the previous joint committees, and to coordinate between the two embassies and the relevant ministries in the two countries to restore all that was suspended in this context”.
Minister Boushkian replied: “All items are being worked on, and even the industrial memorandum of understanding that was signed in Iraq, for example, is currently subject to work and the addition of some matters that ensure its activation as quickly as possible”.
Minister Boushkian was asked: Is it among the agreements to open the way for the manufacture of medical devices?
Answer: “The agreements are open to all fields, one of which is medical matters. We have set the slogan for the next stage, "integral industries" between us and Iraq, because we complement each other in many topics, and this is the way we will work”.
The two ministers were asked: When will entry visas between the two countries be canceled? Minister Khabbaz replied: “The idea of Premier Mikati, during our visit to him, was to remove visas like other countries, and this is a subject that needs study and agreement between the two countries. I am confident that no obstacle will prevent smooth procedures for citizens and businessmen in the two countries”. As for Minister Boushkian, he replied: “His Excellency the President has put us in the picture, and he absolutely supports this matter. God willing, we will be able to overcome these issues between us and Iraq to facilitate people's affairs in the near future. The stage is very positive with Iraq, and let us look forward to it in a positive spirit to reach our goals”.—Presidency Press Office

Aoun on Women's Day Urges for Unified Personal Status Law
Naharnet/March 08/2022
President Michel Aoun said on International Women's Day, Tuesday, that "political sectarianism cannot be abolished and people cannot be unified, unless there is a unified personal status law."He added that "it is not possible to live in one house with different and unequal rights."
Aoun promised to strive to achieve an equal personal status law and said he was content that a law prohibiting violence against women was issued. "To change such things, we need a transformation in society, and some would accept this change while others wouldn't," Aoun said.Our role, he added, is to help achieve this change.Lebanon currently lacks a civil personal status law. It relies on 15 separate religious-based personal status laws to regulate matters such as marriage, inheritance and child custody. These religious laws differentiate between genders and evidently between religions.

Geagea, Bassil Bicker over Megacenters Plan
Naharnet/March 08/2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Tuesday the Free Patriotic Movement of raising the megacenter issue in order to postpone the elections. Geagea said, in a statement, that FPM head Jebran bassil and the FPM's MPs know that it is impossible to use voting megacenters in the upcoming elections. He went on to say that the LF were the first to ask for megacenters but "not as a pretext to delay or to torpedo the elections." "We won't allow them to postpone the election and we will fight until the last breath for it to happen on time," Geagea said.
The statement upset Bassil who tweeted about Geagea, without naming him. He said that "this is not his first betrayal." "He sold the President's jurisdictions in the Taif accord, he fought the Strong president, he betrayed the Orthodox (electoral) law and he sacrificed the expat parliamentary seats," Bassil added, defending the megacenters plan. "The megacenters would not delay but would rather facilitate the elections," he said.

Report: Russia Inclined to Blame Bassil for Anti-Moscow Stances
Naharnet/March 08/2022
President Michel Aoun’s adviser for Russian affairs, ex-MP Amal Abu Zeid, has met in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin’s Mideast representative Mikhail Bogdanov to explain to him the motives behind Lebanon’s latest stances regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, media reports said. Abu Zeid told Bogdanov that Lebanon’s stances were based on “principles and political considerations,” al-Joumhouria newspaper said. Bogdanov for his part expressed his dismay over the Lebanese behavior, wondering “what would Lebanon reap from its stance and how it would benefit from it,” the daily added.
“The Russians are inclined to blame Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil for the undiplomatic approach adopted by the state regarding the Russian war on Ukraine, especially that the reports of their ambassador in Beirut have leaned this way,” the newspaper said.
Abu Zeid, however, denied the accusations, hinting that “a certain official had played a role in convincing President Michel Aoun of the need to align with the U.S. and Western approach in order to avoid pressures,” al-Joumhouria added. “What was issued by Lebanon was not at all aimed at antagonizing Moscow, with which we are keen on the best relations,” Abu Zeid added. According to al-Joumhouria, it seems that Abu Zeid’s clarifications “were not enough to contain the confidence crisis.”“A high-ranking Russian figure even said that it is not strange for Russia to receive a Lebanese stab in appeasement of the Americans as long as some are even willing to give up a part of the maritime and oil rights in order to appease Washington,” the daily added.

Aoun and FPM Accused of Seeking to Postpone Elections
Naharnet/March 08/2022 
The “Aounist camp” wants to postpone the parliamentary elections for three and not two months so that the vote would be held in September, highly informed sources said. The aim is to “prevent the presence of a caretaker cabinet for a four-month period, which would be a long time should there be failure to form a government in the period between the election of the new parliament and the date of the presidential elections, seeing as President (Michel) Aoun’s term ends on October 31,” the sources told al-Liwaa newspaper in remarks published Tuesday. Parliamentary sources also accused Aoun’s camp, in remarks to the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal, of insisting on the controversial megacenters plan with the aim of postponing the elections. “The goal is either to delay the elections indefinitely or to hold them in September,” the sources said. The sources also added that “there might be failure to form a new government in the period preceding the presidential election, which would prevent the election of a president due to the absence of a government.”“Lebanon would then be plunged into presidential vacuum, and President Aoun might find this a reason for staying in Baabda and plunging the country into a new political crisis,” the sources went on to say.

Nasrallah Says Lebanon's Anti-Russia Statement 'Written at U.S. Embassy'
Naharnet/March 08/2022
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday lashed out at the United States and accused its embassy in Lebanon of being behind the Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “It is regrettable that the official Lebanese statement that was issued by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry had been sent to the U.S. embassy. The embassy modified it, which means that this statement was written at the U.S. embassy. Is this what sovereignty is all about?” Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking Hizbullah’s ‘Day of the Wounded’. “Trusting the Americans is stupidity, foolishness and ignorance,” Nasrallah added, referring to Ukraine’s relation with Washington. “I tell Lebanese officials, people and political parties that submitting to U.S. dictates will not rescue Lebanon but will rather increase its woes,” Nasrallah went on to say. “The U.S. demands do not stop at any limit,” he said.Turning to the issue of Lebanon’s support for a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nasrallah lamented that “Lebanon voted against Russia” although “it could have chosen to abstain.”“Lebanon is supposed to tell the Americans that the Lebanese are not their slaves and this is what sovereignty calls for,” he added. “Where is the dissociation policy that the government calls for? Why did neutrality advocates remain silent regarding the Lebanese statement?” Nasrallah asked. He added that what happened at the U.N. “puts an end to the lie that Hizbullah is practicing hegemony over the Lebanese state's decisions.”“What have the Lebanese officials obtained from the Americans who are only offering false promises? The U.S. State Department has not given Egypt and Jordan documents exempting them from the Caesar Act until the moment,” Nasrallah charged, referring to Washington’s announcement that it would help Lebanon with the importation of Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity. Moreover, Nasrallah reminded that, one year and a half ago, a Russian company had submitted a proposal to Lebanon for setting up an oil refinery “with Russian funding and without guarantees,” accusing the U.S. embassy of “preventing a Lebanese response to the Russian company’s offer.”“The Americans are preventing Lebanon from leaning towards the Russian choice, without offering an alternative,” he charged. He also noted that “if Hizbullah dominated the Lebanese state’s decisions,” the Russian proposal “would have been accepted a year and a half ago.”“I call on Lebanese officials to accept the (Russian) proposal because lines have returned to gas stations,” Nasrallah added.

Nassar Denies Calling for Elections Postponement in Megacenters Meeting
Naharnet/March 08/2022
Tourism Minister Walid Nassar, who is close to the Free Patriotic Movement, has denied calling for the postponement of parliamentary polls in Monday’s ministerial meeting that tackled the issue of voting megacenters, noting that his remarks were taken out of context. “With all due independence, I’m in favor of megacenters and I don’t have political calculations. My political leadership is President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Miqati,” Nassar said in a TV interview. “There are no hurdles in the way of setting up megacenters within the specified deadline and political malice must stop,” he added. “Elections should not be postponed even for a single day… and I would give up megacenters for the sake of holding the elections on time,” Nassar went on to say.Culture Minister Mohammed al-Murtada had announced overnight that the ministers of interior, finance, foreign affairs, education, culture, tourism and telecom had agreed that the megacenters plan “requires a legislative amendment, except for the justice minister, who insisted that no legal obstacles prevent the move.”

Sayyed Nasrallah: Lebanon should have refrained from voting for UN denunciation of Russian operation in Ukraine
NNA/March 08/2022 
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed on Tuesday that trusting the promises of the US administration is matter of foolishness, urging the Lebanese officials to emancipate themselves from the US hegemony. Addressing Hezbollah Wounded Fighter Day ceremony, Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that the US pressures on the Lebanese officials are preventing them from approving an agreement with a Russian oil firm. Sayyed Nasrallah narrated that a Russian oil firm offered to build a refinery and provide the crude oil without costing the Lebanese government to pay fresh dollars, adding that the firm accepts the Lebanese national pound to be paid in return. He went on to clarify that such an agreement would enable Lebanon to cope with its power crisis and gasoline shortage, adding that the US embassy in Beirut has prevented the Lebanese officials from concluding the deal in order to avoid witnessing quarrels and brawls at gas stations. In this regard, Sayyed Nasrallah urged the Lebanese president and council of ministers to approve the agreement with the Russian firm, saying, “If you want to please the US, you must know that their demands are limitless.”“Had Hezbollah been ruling Lebanon, the US Embassy in Beirut would have never intervened in domestic issues,” he added.  Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the US State Department has not yet provided Egypt and Jordan with any official waiver in order to allow the gas and power transaction to Lebanon to occur, adding that US ambassador to Lebanon power pledge was an untrue promise. Providing another evidence that Hezbollah does not control the state in Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the Lebanese official condemnation of Russian operation in Ukraine. Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that Lebanon should have refrained from voting for the UN denunciation of the Russian operation in Ukraine, adding that the Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement which denounced the Russian operation was drafted by the US embassy in Beirut. Sayyed Nasrallah then wondered how the neutrality proponents in Lebanon refrained from rejecting the Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement which involves Lebanon in a dispute with a great country, Russia.

Mikati meets Lebanese-Gulf Businessmen Councils Union delegation, Arab Scout delegation, calls for Cabinet session Thursday at Baabda palace
NNA/March 08/2022
Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, called for a Cabinet session to be held at 3.00 pm upcoming Thursday, March 10, at Baabda Presidential Palace, with 18 items on its agenda, most notably the megacenter file and the encroachments on the oil pipelines in Tripoli.
On the other hand, Premier Mikati held on Tuesday a series of meetings at the Grand Serail, whereby he received a delegation representing the Federation of Lebanese-Gulf Businessmen Councils, headed by Samir Al-Khatib. Speaking in the wake of the meeting, Al-Khatib said: "We visited Premeir Mikati following the establishment of the Federation of Lebanese-Gulf Businessmen Councils, which I have the honor to chair. It consists of several councils: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirates, Qatar and Oman. It includes members of the councils in addition to a group of economic bodies. The Union aims is to unify efforts to re-strengthen the relations that link us historically with the Gulf, as the Gulf states have always been a great support to Lebanon in all the crises and junctures it has gone through.”On the other hand, Mikati met with Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Al-Hajjar, with discussions touching on Ministry related affairs. The Prime Minister also received, in the presence of Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. George Kallas, the Arab Scout delegation, headed by Palestinian Minister of Youth and Sports, Jibril Rajoub. The visit comes to discuss Lebanon's hosting of the 30th Arab Scout Conference.

Berri meets Vice Speaker Ferzli, Deputy PM Shami, Constitutional Council Head, discusses electricity issue with Energy Minister
NNA/March 08/2022 
House Speaker Nabih Berri, on Tuesday received at the Second Presidency in Ain El-Tineh, Head of the Constitutional Council Judge Tannous Mechleb, in the presence of Council members, Judges Riad Abou Ghaida and Awni Ramadan. Speaker Berri then received Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Saadeh al-Shami, with discussions touching on the general conditions, especially the economic ones. Berri also met with Minister of Energy and Water, Dr. Walid Fayyad, who said on emerging that discussions mainly touched on the electricity issue and related affairs, as well as the latest the developments in this dossier.
This afternoon, Berri met with Vice Speaker, Elie Ferzli, with whom he discussed the current general situation and most recent political developments, as well as an array of legislative affairs.

UN Special Coordinator Visits First LAF Gender Department and Meets Women Active in Peacebuilding Efforts in Lebanon
NNA/March 08/2022  
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Ms. Joanna Wronecka visited today the Lebanese army’s first Gender Department and took part in a roundtable discussion organized by UN Women with women-led organizations working on issues of peace, security and social cohesion in Lebanon. “Women’s role in promoting peace and security is vital, whether in decision-making positions or at the grassroots and working levels to address any opportunities and challenges,” the UN Special Coordinator said. “This role must not be undermined or neglected to enable Lebanon to benefit from the full potential of all its citizens,” she added. At the headquarters of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in Yarzeh, the Special Coordinator met the head of the army’s Gender Department Col. Marwa Saoud who explained the new department’s objectives and plan of action. Officially launched in late December, the Gender Department will help integrate a gender perspective at the highest policy level of the LAF and contribute to its mainstreaming throughout its various departments. Praising the leadership role of LAF Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun in this regard, the Special Coordinator said, “The establishment of a Gender Department in the Lebanese Armed Forces is a remarkable step forward and an inspiration for all other security institutions, in line with the commitment set out in Lebanon’s National Action Plan on UN Security Council 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security.”
She affirmed the UN’s full readiness to support the LAF Gender department, including by mobilizing requisite international support for its effective operations. The Special Coordinator later in the day joined a lively discussion, moderated by UN Women, with representatives of six independent women-led organizations engaged in different peacebuilding efforts in Lebanon through socio-economic recovery, political participation and representation as well as community empowerment, including Auberge Beity, Madanyat, ONDES, SEEDS, Haven for Artists, Fe-Male and Dar Al-Amal. While reiterating the importance of promoting equal rights for women and their access to all levels of representation in society, discussions focused on the need to encourage more women to come forward in the upcoming parliamentary elections as both candidates and voters and on women’s role in climate action, which is this year’s global theme for International Women’s Day. The Special Coordinator highlighted that “Women are increasingly being recognized as more vulnerable to climate change impacts than men; and women and girls are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers for climate adaptation and mitigation”.
“Women are making enormous contributions in Lebanon, particularly at the grassroots levels. But much of this tireless work is being done without much media and public attention,” the Special Coordinator said. “I was delighted to discuss today with a group of distinguished women some of the efforts they are leading to promote social cohesion, support for good governance, climate action, opportunities for youth, non-discrimination and other development efforts aimed at building a new Lebanon,” she added. The Special Coordinator underlined that the UN, led by UN Women, would continue to support and advocate through its different programs for improving the conditions and representation of women in Lebanon.

President, first Lebanese Lady receive delegation of FPM women marking International Women's Day
NNA/March 08/2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met a delegation of the women of the "Free Patriotic Movement", in the presence of the First Lebanese Lady Nadia Shami Aoun. While President Aoun and the first Lebanese Lady entered the hall, applause and chants calling for them erupted. At the outset, the Vice-President of the Free Patriotic Movement for Administrative Affairs, Mrs. Martin Kteili, thanked the President and the First Lady for receiving them. Kteili expressed the pleasure of those present at this meeting, and promised the President and the First Lady to continue the work they did and do in terms of providing support and assistance to the Lebanese., “As we were pioneers in standing up for the right issues, and they were able to make a qualitative shift in terms of changing the stereotyped image that was given to women in terms of only providing them with support and assistance, to showing their capabilities, competencies, effectiveness and productivity, and as they were in the first row in the main political stations that Lebanon went through, this is how they will stand today in the political field also, so that darkness does not triumph over hope and light” Kteili said. Then, the Coordinator of Women's Affairs in the "Free Patriotic Movement", Mrs. Jumana Sleilati, pointed out that "International Women's Day" was found as a result of the injustice done to women throughout the ages, and as a reminder by rights defenders of the necessity of working to eliminate all forms of discrimination. “I asked the President of the Republic, where he can, to make efforts to end injustice and achieve equality, because women in Lebanon still suffer from systematic institutional injustice, which places women in a lower rank compared to men” Sleilati said. Mrs. Sleilati also called on President Aoun to invite women to actively participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, convinced of the ability of Lebanese women to make positive change. Mrs. Sleilati thanked the President and the First Lebanese Lady for their constant defense of self-realization and for going boldly far in the ambition and dreams of women, men, and even human beings.
President Aoun:
The President welcomed the delegation, and praised what had been achieved in terms of lifting injustice against women and giving them their rights. President Aoun also recalled the difficult moments in his life, and the role of Mrs. Nadia Shami Aoun and his daughters in strengthening his steadfastness and defending his convictions and principles. In addition, the President expressed his pride in his success in bringing women into the military, overcoming the many difficulties that were preventing this matter from being achieved. "If a woman succeeds in the military field, which is difficult and harsh, then she can of course bear many other less difficult tasks. A woman is a mother, wife, sister and daughter, and it must be understood that the difference between a woman and a man is physical only, but she has no differences in rights and giving, and she does not complain from any inability to perform difficult tasks, and a unified legislation must be found for the Lebanese society” President Aoun continued. Moreover, the President stressed that Lebanese women are present in all sectors and have succeeded remarkably in the tasks they undertake, and therefore work must be done to eliminate the legal differences between men and women. “This requires a legislative effort in the first place that needs a parliamentary majority, as we are not the only ones who legislate. This also requires a social effort to remove what is stored in the minds of some that women are unable to compete with men in giving and abilities to do all kinds of tasks, including difficult ones” the President added. “There will be no abolition of political sectarianism and the unification of a people, unless there is a single personal status law, as it is not possible to live in one house with different and unequal rights” President Aoun emphasized. Finally, the President promised the delegation to strive to achieve this goal, expressing his satisfaction with the issuance of a law prohibiting violence against women, and his desire to strengthen it.  “These are matters that need transformation in society in order to change, and there are those who accept this change and there are those who do not accept change, and our role is to help achieve this change” the President concluded.—Presidency Press Office

United Nations, Member States in Lebanon, civil society organizations celebrate women leading fight against environmental degradation and climate...
NNA/March 08/2022 
International Women’s Day (United Nations - Gender Working Group) – Today on March 8, International Women’s Day, the United Nations celebrates the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all. We are not only celebrating their efforts to alleviate the severe and lasting impacts of climate change on our environmental, economic, and social development, but also their integral role in sustaining viable communities.
To recognize International Women’s Day, the United Nations System in Lebanon, coordinated by UN Women, and in collaboration with the Lebanon Gender Working Group (GWG) and with the support from UN Members States come together around a joint campaign “Women and girls leading the fight against climate change to build a more sustainable future for Lebanon”. The campaign builds on the global theme, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” that is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66, 14-25 March 2022) on “achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental disaster risk reduction policies, and programmes”. Climate change is a threat multiplier in Lebanon. Over the past decades, an inability to find sustainable solutions for key environmental threats, including those related to waste management and sustainable energy, has produced serious public health impacts. Contamination and depletion of the groundwater have reached catastrophic levels, and air pollution is estimated to have increased by 50% between 2017 and 2020 in Lebanon.
By profiling a group of women living and working in Lebanon to combat the far-reaching impacts of climate change, including its health, economic and social effects on the country, the UN and partners are celebrating the achievements of women in the country, while highlighting the urgent need for action on matters related to climate change and environmental degradation. The group of nine women being profiled: Nadida Raad, Caroline Chabtini, Dr Maya Nehmeh, Aaida Ghadban, Dr Myriam Ghsoub, Carole Ayat, Dr Mona Fawaz, Nouhad Awwad and Dr Najat Saliba, are leading innovative actions for climate adaptation across the country. In trying to mitigate the effects of this environmental challenge, these women are working to build a future of equality, rights, and opportunities for all.
“The nine women profiled in this year’s campaign provide solid and tangible proof of women’s leadership in all aspects of life. We need women in politics, in the economy, and in the environment to ensure Lebanon’s swift and smooth recovery. These women inspire us and remind us that change is possible, that solutions are possible, and that knowledge can serve our common goal to avoid the country’s ecological collapse,” said the United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Najat Rochdi. “Climate change in Lebanon poses a threat multiplier to Lebanon’s stiff challenges that will intensify the current predicaments. This requires resolute action and serious engagement by all of us, including the government and the people, to fight environmental degradation and climate change in Lebanon, she added. The campaign includes a photographic virtual exhibition showcasing women champions leading on climate change initiatives across Lebanon. The photographic virtual exhibition will run online and will be included, as a permanent feature, on UN Lebanon and UN Women Lebanon’s website. The exhibition will be complemented by an online launching event, hosted today. In parallel, a social media campaign will run, from 8 to 15 March on the social platforms of the UN agencies in Lebanon .“We need all hands-on deck to fight climate change and environmental degradation. I am inspired to see the leadership and innovation of women in Lebanon in promoting solutions for a more sustainable tomorrow. Lebanon truly needs to unlock the potential of all its talented women and girls!” said Merete Juhl, Ambassador of Denmark.
“For me the extraordinary women profiled in the campaign, underlines the necessity to connect the dots between a sustainable future, gender equality, social inclusion and quality education. We will be unable to reach a sustainable future if we continue to exclude the potential of half of the population while searching for solutions. This is even more important considering the unfolding education crisis in Lebanon, which hampers yet another generation of girls from fulfilling their full potential”, said. Ambassador of Finland Tarja Fernández. Ryme Assaad, President of Sustain the World, a Lebanese organization working on climate justice and a member of the Lebanon Gender Working Group. She says, on behalf of the GWG “Despite restricted rights, limited access to political decision-making, financial resources and employment opportunities, women and girls in Lebanon are proving to be leaders of change, driving and inspiring the change they want to see in their communities. The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909. In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, which is now celebrated in many countries worldwide. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements regardless of divisions, be those national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political.

U.S. Provocation or Russian Aggression? Lebanese Polarized over Ukraine War
Associated Press/March 08/2022
Wrangling over the Ukraine war has showed deep divisions in Lebanon and in the Middle East, where Moscow has embedded itself as a key player in recent years, making powerful friends among state and non-state actors while America's influence waned. Hizbullah has railed against the government's condemnation of Russia's attack on Ukraine, calling for neutrality, after an unusually blunt Foreign Ministry statement caused an uproar and upset the Russians, forcing the minister to clarify that Lebanon did not intend to take sides and would remain neutral. "They distance themselves and claim neutrality where they want, and they interfere and condemn where they want," Hizbullah lawmaker Ibrahim Moussawi wrote on Twitter, taking aim at the Foreign Ministry. "What foreign policy does Lebanon follow, and what is Lebanon's interest in that? Please clarify for us, foreign minister."Hizbullah, which also sent thousands of fighters to neighboring Syria to shore up Assad's forces, has seized on Russia's invasion of Ukraine to portray it as an inevitable result of U.S. provocations and yet another betrayal by the United States of its allies – in this case, Ukraine. The group, along with Shiite factions in Iraq and Houthi rebels in Yemen, vocally support Russia against Ukraine. These groups are considered to be Iran's boots on the ground in the so-called anti-U.S. "axis of resistance."Putin won their backing largely because of his close ties with Tehran and his military intervention in Syria's civil war in support of President Bashar Assad. They see Putin as a steady, reliable partner who, unlike the Americans, does not drop his allies. In their circles, they even have an affectionate nickname for Putin — "Abu Ali" — which is a common name among Shiite Muslims and meant to portray a certain camaraderie. Iran's allies in the region are outspokenly with Russia "because they are anti-American and anti-West and believe that Russia is their ally," said political analyst Ihsan Alshamary, who heads the Political Thought Think Tank in Baghdad. Last week, 35 countries, including Iran and Iraq, abstained from a U.N. General Assembly vote to demand that Russia stop its offensive and withdraw troops from Ukraine. Lebanon voted in favor, while Syria, where Russian ties run deep, voted against.

U.N., Member States in Lebanon, Civil Society Celebrate Women Leading Fight against Environmental Degradation, Climate Change
Naharnet/March 08/2022
President Michel Aoun’s advi
Today on March 8, International Women’s Day, the United Nations celebrates the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are "leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all," a U.N. statement said. "We are not only celebrating their efforts to alleviate the severe and lasting impacts of climate change on our environmental, economic, and social development, but also their integral role in sustaining viable communities," the statement said. To recognize International Women’s Day, the United Nations System in Lebanon, coordinated by U.N. Women, and in collaboration with the Lebanon Gender Working Group (GWG) and with the support from U.N. Members States come together around a joint campaign “Women and girls leading the fight against climate change to build a more sustainable future for Lebanon”.
The campaign builds on the global theme, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” that is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66, 14-25 March 2022) on “achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental disaster risk reduction policies, and programs.”
"Climate change is a threat multiplier in Lebanon. Over the past decades, an inability to find sustainable solutions for key environmental threats, including those related to waste management and sustainable energy, has produced serious public health impacts. Contamination and depletion of the groundwater have reached catastrophic levels, and air pollution is estimated to have increased by 50% between 2017 and 2020 in Lebanon," the statement warned. By profiling a group of women living and working in Lebanon to combat the far-reaching impacts of climate change, including its health, economic and social effects on the country, the U.N. and partners are celebrating the achievements of women in the country, while highlighting the urgent need for action on matters related to climate change and environmental degradation.
The group of nine women being profiled: Nadida Raad, Caroline Chabtini, Dr Maya Nehmeh, Aaida Ghadban, Dr Myriam Ghsoub, Carole Ayat, Dr Mona Fawaz, Nouhad Awwad and Dr Najat Saliba, are leading innovative actions for climate adaptation across the country. "In trying to mitigate the effects of this environmental challenge, these women are working to build a future of equality, rights, and opportunities for all," the U.N. said.
“The nine women profiled in this year’s campaign provide solid and tangible proof of women’s leadership in all aspects of life. We need women in politics, in the economy, and in the environment to ensure Lebanon’s swift and smooth recovery. These women inspire us and remind us that change is possible, that solutions are possible, and that knowledge can serve our common goal to avoid the country’s ecological collapse,” said the United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Najat Rochdi. “Climate change in Lebanon poses a threat multiplier to Lebanon’s stiff challenges that will intensify the current predicaments. This requires resolute action and serious engagement by all of us, including the government and the people, to fight environmental degradation and climate change in Lebanon," she added.
The campaign includes a photographic virtual exhibition showcasing women champions leading on climate change initiatives across Lebanon. The photographic virtual exhibition will run online and will be included, as a permanent feature, on U.N. Lebanon and UN Women Lebanon’s website. The exhibition will be complemented by an online launching event, hosted today. In parallel, a social media campaign will run, from 8 to 15 March on the social platforms of the U.N. agencies in Lebanon
“We need all hands-on deck to fight climate change and environmental degradation. I am inspired to see the leadership and innovation of women in Lebanon in promoting solutions for a more sustainable tomorrow. Lebanon truly needs to unlock the potential of all its talented women and girls!” said Merete Juhl, Ambassador of Denmark. “For me the extraordinary women profiled in the campaign, underlines the necessity to connect the dots between a sustainable future, gender equality, social inclusion and quality education. We will be unable to reach a sustainable future if we continue to exclude the potential of half of the population while searching for solutions. This is even more important considering the unfolding education crisis in Lebanon, which hampers yet another generation of girls from fulfilling their full potential,” said Ambassador of Finland Tarja Fernández. Ryme Assaad, President of Sustain the World, a Lebanese organization working on climate justice and a member of the Lebanon Gender Working Group, said on behalf of the GWG: “Despite restricted rights, limited access to political decision-making, financial resources and employment opportunities, women and girls in Lebanon are proving to be leaders of change, driving and inspiring the change they want to see in their communities." The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909. In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, which is now celebrated in many countries worldwide. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements regardless of divisions, be those national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political.

Climate Justice Requires Gender Justice: A Call to Action for Leaders in Lebanon This International Women’s Day
Naharnet/March 08/2022
Thirty-one foreign ambassadors to Lebanon have co-authored an op-ed on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, entitled "Climate Justice Requires Gender Justice: a Call to Action for Leaders in Lebanon This International Women’s Day".
Below is the full text of the op-ed as received by Naharnet:
"Today, March 8, International Women’s Day we celebrate women in Lebanon who are leading the fight against environmental degradation and climate change, working to build a more sustainable future for the country, and the global community.
Women, men, and children living in Lebanon have long endured challenging environmental conditions. As per Yale’s Environmental Performance Index 2020 (EPI) , Lebanon ranks 5th in the region (out of 17 Arab countries included in the analysis) and 78 out of 180 countries, globally: Those living in the country are breathing unsafe air, using unclean water and living in areas strewn with waste. The accumulation of decades of mismanagement and lack of investments in renewable energy sources, equitable energy distribution systems and public transportation have resulted in a reliance on private generators and cars, in untreated sewage, unmanaged industrial run off, and inaction on a trash crisis.
The impact of climate change and environmental degradation on people’s health is of serious concern; for example, long-term exposure to high levels of air pollution decreases lung function and increases the risk of respiratory symptoms in humans. Equally, this degradation of the environment is generating significant economic losses for a country already witnessing one of the world’s worst financial meltdowns since the 19th century, according to the World Bank. In 2015, the Government of Lebanon estimated that if not stopped, climate change and environmental degradation would result in an economic slowdown and a 300 million USD loss in GDP per year. International experts say they expect climate change to have a direct, negative impact on Lebanon’s densely populated coastal urban areas and its agricultural productivity, with deforestation, urbanization and illegal quarrying adding to the country’s list of environmental dangers.
In Lebanon, local NGOs, citizens and residents are working within their communities and in academia to develop solutions to address Lebanon’s environmental crisis. These span from recycling initiatives to energy solutions, and efforts to clean Lebanon’s waters.
Many of these initiatives exist because of the leadership and tenacity of women in Lebanon. This International Women’s Day, we celebrate women – in all their diversity – who are pioneering environmental change across the country, even in the most trying of circumstances. Climate change solutions cannot be successful without women. Women are at the forefront of international science as well as national resource management, often responsible for domestic and community aspects of energy and waste management. Women’s critical contribution to Lebanon’s environmental justice is yet another valuable reminder that the country’s political leadership must be diverse and prioritize women’s representation if it is to solve the current crises – including on the environment.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time; to stem it in Lebanon requires immediate action and attention. In its national climate plan, the government has set a 20 percent emission reduction target by 2030, towards net-zero commission by 2050, an increase from its 2015 target, and recently committed to the development of a 2050 long-term strategy for low emissions and resilient development strategies. These are ambitious targets; especially given the limited action we have seen to date. However, the right mix of policies, skills, incentives, political will and women’s leadership can influence public behavior, encourage the right investments and mitigate devastating outcomes for Lebanon’s cherished environment.
Those we recognize today – Aaida Ghadban, Carole Ayat, Caroline Chaptini, Dr. Maya Nehmeh, Dr. Mona Fawaz, Myriam Ghsoub, Nouhad Awwad, Nadida Raad and Dr. Najat Saliba- are amongst many women, who must be our guides and leaders. Let us celebrate their work and their contributions to making a future greener, equitable and prosperous Lebanon possible.
Rebekah Grindlay, Ambassador of Australia to Lebanon
René Paul Amry, Ambassador of Austria to Lebanon
Hubert Cooreman, Ambassador of Belgium to Lebanon
Boyan Belev, ambassador of Bulgaria to Lebanon
Chantal Chastenay, Ambassador of Canada to Lebanon
Panayiotis Kyriakou, Ambassador of Cyprus to Lebanon
Jiří Doležel ambassador of the Czech Republic to Lebanon
Merete Juhl, Ambassador of Denmark to Lebanon
Miko Haljas, Ambassador of Estonia to Lebanon
Ralph Tarraf, EU ambassador to Lebanon
Tarja Fernández, Ambassador of Finland to Lebanon
Anne Grillo, Ambassador of France to Lebanon
Andreas Kindl, Ambassador of Germany to Lebanon
Catherine Fountoulaki, Ambassador of Greece to Lebanon
Seán O Regan, Ambassador of Ireland to Lebanon
Nicoletta Bombardiere, Ambassador of Italy to Lebanon
Jose Ignacio Madrazo, Ambassador of Mexico to Lebanon
Hans Peter van der Woude, Ambassador of Netherlands to Lebanon
Martin Yttervik, Ambassador of Norway to Lebanon
Przemysław Niesiołowski, Ambassador of Poland to Lebanon
Radu-Cătălin Mardare, Ambassador of Romania to Lebanon
Marek Varga, Ambassador of Slovakia to Lebanon
José María Ferré de la Peña, Ambassador of Spain to Lebanon
Shani Calyaneratne Karunaratne, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Lebanon
Ann Dismorr, Ambassador of Sweden to Lebanon
Ian Collard, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Lebanon
Dorothy Shea, Ambassador of the United States to Lebanon
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Ms. Joanna Wronecka
Najat Rochdi, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon
Melanie Hauenstein, Resident Representative, UNDP Lebanon
Rachel Dore-Weeks, Head of UN Women Lebanon"

Leçons de l’Ukraine
Jean-Marie Kassab/08 Mars/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106885/%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a-%d9%83%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a8-%d8%af%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b3-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a3%d9%88%d9%83%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d8%a8%d8%b9%d9%86%d8%a7-%d8%a3%d8%b1/
Je ne vais plus m’attaquer aux élections. Inutile. Il me semble plus facile de convaincre un Aouniste de la mauvaise foi et de la médiocrité de Michel Aoun que de convaincre le peuple Libanais soi-disant souverainiste de la futilité des élections. Faute de nouveaux arguments car je les ai épuisés tous, je baisse les bras.Par contre je souhaite de tout cœur à ces gens, tètes de file soient-ils, chefs de partis, Thawratistes , candidats etc. toute la sagesse du monde pour sauver le Liban des périls qui se présentent et particulièrement avec la guerre en Ukraine. Une guerre qui a changé la face du monde qu’on connait, où les gens meurent par milliers, où les tabous ne sont plus des tabous et le terme nucléaire a été susurré maintes fois.
L’Europe est loin disent-ils. C’est vrai.
Sauf que se chauffer au Liban ou se déplacer sera très difficile et hors de prix.
Sauf que les prix de toutes les denrées et services vont forcément crever le plafond dans un pays totalement appauvri et qui le sera encore plus. La vie telle qu’on la connait sera encore plus dure.
Sauf que La communauté internationale n’aura rien à foutre de nous, déjà que ce n’était pas si brillant puisque nous sommes des corrompus et stupides. Que nos trois présidents sont à la solde de l’occupant Iranien.
Sauf que la région risque fort d’être entrainée dans le maelstrom qui secoue le monde.
Sauf que nous sommes si faibles et si maladroits que ce vent qui souffle risque d’être dévastateur et que notre souci unique fut les élections simplement pour maintenir en place ces macaques qui nous mènent, et de père en fils de plus.
Sauf que ceux qui tablent sur un déclin de Poutine et de ses alliés oublient que nous ne sommes pas prêts à sauter sur l’occasion et regagner notre souveraineté.
Sauf qu’une bête blessée (dans son honneur et son ego) que pourrait être Poutine risque d’être très dangereuse.
Sauf que la liste est si longue et risque de ne pas être lue par vous et de m’envoyer promener.
Sauf que la Résistance risque d’être vaincue par les mêmes gens qu’elle est supposée protéger. Quand il fallait résister comme le font ces braves Ukrainiens, nous avons vendu notre âme au diable pour un siège ou deux qui ne serviront à rien. Le Liban est occupé par l’Iran.
Je souhaite aux candidats qui rêvent d’une place sous la coupole du parlement toute la chance et la sagesse du monde, pour nous sauver, mais aussi de se munir d’un parapluie car cette coupole craquelée risque de s’effondrer à chaque instant.
Jean-Marie Kassab
Task Force Lebanon

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 08-09/2022
Biden announces ban on Russian energy imports
CNN/March 08/2022
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced his administration is banning Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports to the US in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Today I am announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy. We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. “That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”The US will make the move unilaterally, without its European allies, due to disagreement among European nations about whether to ban Russian energy imports. EU countries have significantly more exposure to Russian energy than the US.

Ukrainians Flee Besieged City as Number of Refugees Hits Two Million
Agence France Presse/March 08/2022
Desperate civilians began fleeing a besieged Ukrainian city through a humanitarian corridor opened by Russia on Tuesday, as the number of refugees to flee the country hit more than two million. The exodus from Sumy, where 21 people were killed in Russian air strikes late Monday, comes despite Kyiv branding Moscow's renewed offer of escape routes from several cities as a publicity stunt, since many lead straight to Russia or its ally Belarus. The UN called for evacuees to be allowed to leave in whichever they direction they choose, after horrific scenes in which civilians have been shelled as they tried to escape, while thousands remain trapped in dire conditions. The war has sparked Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II, with more than two million people having crossed Ukraine's borders, according to the United Nations. The West has hit back with sanctions on Russia that have reverberated around the global economy, but they have failed to dissuade President Vladimir Putin from pushing on with his assault. Russia warned it could cut Europe's gas supplies in revenge for sanctions and said any ban by Western allies on Russian oil imports would have "catastrophic consequences". The Ukrainian military said Tuesday, nearly two weeks into the war, that Russia was ramping up its troops and equipment around the main conflict zones, as it sought to encircle the capital Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced what he called unkept promises byt he West to protect his country from Russian attacks. "It's been 13 days we've been hearing promises, 13 days we've been told we'll be helped in the air, that there will be planes," Zelensky said on a video broadcast on Telegram. "But the responsibility for that rests also on those who were not capable to take a decision in the West for 13 days," he added. "On those who have not secured the Ukrainian skies from the Russian assassins."
'I'm not afraid'
Evacuations had begun in Sumy, near the Russian border and 350 kilometers (218 miles) east of Kyiv, the interim chief of the Poltava region, Dmitry Lunin, said early Tuesday. Dozens of buses had already left in the direction of Lokhvytsia, 150 kilometers to the southwest, Lunin said. Officials said the corridor is designed to evacuate civilians, including Chinese, Indians and other foreigners. The evacuation came after 21 people, including two children, were killed in air strikes in Sumy on Monday, a local official said. "Enemy planes insidiously attacked apartment buildings," Ukrainian rescue services said on Telegram.
Russia's initial offer of humanitarian corridors led nowhere, but it floated the idea again, with the defense ministry saying it would open them from 0700 GMT Tuesday, subject to Ukraine's approval. It listed routes from Kyiv as well as Sumy, the besieged port city of Mariupol, and Ukraine's devastated second city of Kharkiv. But Zelensky accused Russia of reneging on previous escape route agreements and trying to stop people such as by planting explosives on roads and destroying buses. "I do not know many Ukrainians who want to go to Russia," Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram late Monday. Zelensky, hailed as a hero by many Western governments, said he was "staying in Kyiv... I'm not afraid" and that he would continue to negotiate with Russia to reach a peace deal. Three previous rounds of talks have made little progress on even achieving a ceasefire. The Ukrainian leader was due to address the British parliament later Tuesday.
'Hand-to-hand combat'
Despite a slow start and a large Russian column being stalled outside Kyiv, Moscow's forces have slowly advanced, particularly in the east and south. Tens of thousands of people remain trapped without water or electricity in brutal conditions in the besieged Azov Sea port of Mariupol, humanitarian agencies say. Terrified civilians have also been packing trains out of the Black Sea port of Odessa amid fears of a Russian assault. AFP journalists witnessed thousands of civilians on Monday fleeing fighting via an unofficial escape route from Irpin, a suburb west of Kyiv, towards the capital. One Ukrainian paratrooper told of "hand-to-hand" combat in Irpin, saying "we are trying to push (Russian soldiers) out, but I don't know if we'll be fully able to do it". At least 406 civilians have died since the start of Russia's assault on its ex-Soviet neighbour, according to the UN, although it believes the real figures to be "considerably higher".
Ukrainian forces said Tuesday they had repulsed a Russian attack on the city of Izium in the Kharkiv region, and outgunned troops have been trying to hold back a Russian push up from the east and south in an attempt to encircle Kyiv. A Russian military spokesman said troops had disabled a military airfield at Jitomir, while separatist forces in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions were making gains. Faced with international condemnation, Putin has equated sanctions with a declaration of war and put nuclear forces on alert. Putin has pledged the "denazification" of Ukraine and demands its "neutralization" and demilitarization.
Putin said on Monday, however, that he will not send conscripts or reservists to fight in the conflict.
'Catastrophic' consequences
Despite harsh punishments for those voicing dissent, protests in Russia against the Ukraine invasion have continued, with more than 10,000 people arrested since it began. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned Monday that a ban on Russian oil imports would have "catastrophic" consequences for prices that have already hit 14-year highs. He added that in retaliation for the halt on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, Russia could stop supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Western allies fear the effect of an oil ban on their own economies, with U.S. President Joe Biden's spokeswoman saying on Monday after talks with European leaders that no decision had been taken. But they have responded to the invasion with tough sanctions and poured military equipment into Ukraine, while steering clear of the no-fly zone demanded by Zelensky, fearing a wider war with Russia.
An international legion of volunteers has also descended on Ukraine to fight the Russians. The Pentagon said Monday that Moscow was on a recruiting mission for its own foreign fighters -- Syrians who fought for President Bashar al-Assad. "We do believe that the accounts of them -- the Russians -- seeking Syrian fighters to augment their forces in Ukraine, we believe there's truth to that," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters. The World Bank on Monday approved an additional $489-million package in support for Ukraine, to be made available immediately and dubbed "Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine," or "FREE Ukraine."

Russia publishes list of 'unfriendly countries' after invasion of Ukraine
Kate Buck/Yahoo/March 8, 2022
Russia has published a list of 43 "unfriendly countries" which face new economic restrictions in retaliation for sweeping sanctions brought in by the West. Vladimir Putin's forces have been trying to gain control over Ukraine for 13 days, but run into a number of logistical problems and a stronger resistance than they initially expected. Sanctions have also been imposed by the UK, US, Canada and the EU, causing the Russian ruble to drop to its lowest ever value. These have included sweeping measures against Putin himself, his ministers, oligarchs, individuals close to the Kremlin, banks, and key businesses.
Under the new restrictions being brought in by the Kremlin, financial trades, loans, and real estate purchases will need "special authorisation" if nations from the list are involved.
The list includes;
United States
Canada
the EU states
UK (including Jersey
Anguilla
British Virgin Islands
Gibraltar
Ukraine
Montenegro
Switzerland
Albania
Andorra
Iceland
Liechtenstein
Monaco
Norway
San Marino
North Macedonia
Japan
South Korea
Australia
Micronesia
New Zealand
Singapore
Taiwan (considered a territory of China, but ruled by its own administration since 1949)
Taiwan was an interesting addition to the list, as China - a key ally of Russia - does not recognise it as a separate country but rather part of its own borders. China has refused to condemn Russia's actions and refused to call Putin's actions an "invasion", instead asking Western nations to respect Russia's "legitimate security concerns". It has called for a solution to the crisis through peaceful negotiations.Taiwan's foreign minister Joseph Wu said Russia's decision to put Taiwan on the list would have little effect on their bilateral relations. During a visit to London on Monday, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau announced new sanctions against 10 individuals who were "complicit in this unjustified invasion." Russia’s economy has come under immense pressure from the international sanctions, with the rouble weakening to 133.5 to the dollar - a 40% drop in value compared to before the invasion.
Russian state media has portrayed the measures as a retaliation to the sanctions brought in, which have almost entirely cut the Russian people from international payment systems. Watch: Russia 'built itself a trap' over Ukraine invasion UK defence secretary says
A number of credit card companies have also pulled out of Russia, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express. The list follows a presidential decree on 5 March allowing the Russian government, companies and citizens to temporarily pay foreign currency debts owed to overseas creditors from "unfriendly countries" in rubles. To make such payments, the government said debtors should open a special type of ruble account with a Russian bank and transfer into it the ruble equivalent of the foreign currency amount owed according to the central bank's official exchange rate on the day of payment.
The Russian economy could come under further pressures following reports US President Joe Biden is set to announce a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports. Biden has been working with allies in Europe, who are far more dependent on Russian oil, to isolate Russia's energy-heavy economy and Putin. Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday the United States may move ahead with a ban on Russian oil imports without the participation of allies in Europe. The UK is reportedly set to join the US in the ban, and will ban the import of Russian oil gradually.It comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a plea for the West to stop buying Russian oil, which has so far escaped sanctions.Oil prices climbed back above $130 a barrel as reports of the latest sanctions emerged.

Putin is angry': U.S. intel chiefs warn that Russia may escalate attacks
Tom LoBianco/Yahoo/March 08/2022
U.S. intelligence leaders on Tuesday floated the idea that Vladimir Putin may seek an exit from Ukraine if his war effort continues to stall, but that escalation of the conflict is likely to happen before the Russian president considers ending his attacks. “We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose. But what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time, given the significant costs he is incurring,” Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, told members of the House Intelligence Committee. The heads of the nation’s intelligence agencies painted a bleak picture of the war as it winds through its second week. Intelligence agencies expect that food and water for some Ukrainians could run out in less than two weeks, and believe that between 2,000 and 4,000 Russian troops have died so far.
Although Russia possesses a military arsenal superior to Ukraine in almost every respect, the Kremlin has performed much worse than predicted and has so far failed to take any of the country’s biggest cities.
CIA Director William Burns, a former ambassador to Moscow, warned Tuesday that Putin now finds himself in an untenable position. "I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He's likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns said of Russia’s efforts, which have already resulted in an estimated 2 million Ukrainian refugees.“But the challenge that he faces — and this is the biggest question that's hung over our analysis of his planning for months now … he has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians,” Burns continued. “So I think that's what his calculus has been. And I think that's the reality of what he faces today."The intelligence leaders also said they are keeping close tabs on Putin’s “saber-rattling,” in which the Russian autocrat has reminded the world of his nuclear arsenal.
“I believe that when he says something, we should listen very, very carefully and take him at his word,” said Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. As the debate has raged in Washington about what role the U.S. should play in the conflict, lawmakers across the aisle have debated what it would take for Putin to end the invasion — or whether Russia is likely to be bogged down in Ukraine as an occupying force. “It’s very hard to figure out what’s the off-ramp,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said after the hearing. “What we can continue to do is continue to escalate the price that he and Russia have to pay for this.”President Biden raises a finger in warning in the White House as he speaks into a microphone in front of a large oil of a cowboy. The West is continuing to increase its pressure on Russia to exit Ukraine. President Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. would stop importing oil from Russia, and an ever-growing list of U.S. and international companies have suspended their business in Russia. “One thing Putin does fear is the ability of the Russian people to rise up against him,” Schiff added. “Until he feels that his own regime is at risk, it’s hard to see him looking for an exit ramp.”Another Democrat on the panel put the question a bit more bluntly.“A lot of my constituents think that Putin is crazy, or he's playing crazy. In an open setting, how do you assess Putin's mental state?” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., asked Burns. “I think his views, congressman, on Ukraine and a lot of other issues, have hardened over the years. I think he's far more insulated from other points of view, and people who would challenge or question his views,” Burns said. “In my opinion, that doesn't make him crazy. But it makes him extremely difficult to deal with, because of the hardening of his views over time and the narrowing of his inner circle.”

Putin's invasion of Ukraine 'is really splitting Russian society,' expert explains
Michael B. Kelley/Yahoo/March 08/2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin owns the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, one expert explained, and that means that the totalitarian leader will also own what comes next. "This was a decision that was taken by a single individual in consultation with maybe a half dozen members of his national security council," Timothy Frye, professor of post-Soviet foreign policy at Columbia University, told Yahoo Finance (video above). "So there's very little elite buy-in. And the Russian public has always been skittish about conflict with Ukraine and is perfectly willing to recognize Ukrainian sovereignty. The public opinion is very clear on that question."Frye added that in response to relatively few people besides Putin wanting to invade Ukraine, "what we've seen is a great deal of repression within Russia, both of the mass public and a real attempt to silence elite opinion. And that's a very difficult thing to do in a country with as diverse interest as Russia has." Frye, author of "Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia," added that this doesn't mean that Putin could easily be overthrown — after all, "it's really difficult to overthrow an autocrat." Instead, Russia experts are watching to see if significant cracks emerge in support for Putin from elites and the public."The information environment of Russia is really still controlled by the Russian state, even as lots of videos are getting through," Frye explained. "And it's really unclear what direction the kind of battle of hearts and minds are going to go. When your country is involved in a war, patriotic elements within the country often rise up. So I think this invasion is really splitting Russian society between those who favor a view of fortress Russia versus those who want to bring Russia into the 21st century. And it's really unclear which side is going to win out."
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, the West swiftly moved to punish Putin's regime by freezing Russian assets, cutting off some of the country’s banks from the SWIFT messaging system, sanctioning individual Russian oligarchs, and other measures. Various prominent companies also distanced themselves from Russia. Domestically, thousands of Russians have been arrested for protesting the war. In terms of the economic pain, Frye noted that "the Russian economy is already at the threat of seizing up. The sanctions on the central bank are really unprecedented. And they're much greater than I think anyone expected, certainly than Vladimir Putin expected."Asked about what comes next, Frye explained that "one thing that Putin has always been very afraid of domestic instability. So I think the impact of these sanctions and all of the Western policy are less to try to get the economic elites to turn on Putin than just trying to make the country ungovernable. And at some point, that might be one way we could constrain Putin from pushing further into Ukraine and to try to find some negotiated agreement."
In the meantime, there is a brutal war raging in Ukraine. Russia seems to have failed to meet its objectives thus far and is increasingly bombing civilians. The Ukrainian resistance, meanwhile, appears to be both strong in battle and determined to revolt against any attempt at Russian occupation of the country.
Negotiations between the two sides are ongoing."Russia's ability to occupy the country given the incredible hostility of the Ukrainian population towards Russia... would make a long-term occupation really difficult," Frye said, later adding: "Ukraine seems to be in no mood to negotiate. They feel like they can wear down the Russian government. And by inflicting costs, they can really make life uncomfortable for Putin."
*Michael B. Kelley is an editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelBKelley.

Ukraine War Highlights Internal Divides in Mideast Nations
Associated Press/March 08/2022
In a neighborhood of Iraq's capital, a gigantic poster of Vladimir Putin with the words, "We support Russia," was up for few hours before a security force arrived and hurriedly took it down. Then came the security directive: All public displays of Putin's pictures shall be banned.
Such wrangling shows the deep divisions over the Ukraine war in the Middle East, where Moscow has embedded itself as a key player in recent years, making powerful friends among state and non-state actors while America's influence waned. Political elites closely allied with the West are wary of alienating Russia or the U.S. and Europe. But other forces — from Shiite factions in Iraq, to Lebanon's Hizbullah and Houthi rebels in Yemen — vocally support Russia against Ukraine. These groups are considered to be Iran's boots on the ground in the so-called anti-U.S. "axis of resistance." Putin won their backing largely because of his close ties with Tehran and his military intervention in Syria's civil war in support of President Bashar Assad. They see Putin as a steady, reliable partner who, unlike the Americans, does not drop his allies. In their circles, they even have an affectionate nickname for Putin — "Abu Ali" — which is a common name among Shiite Muslims and meant to portray a certain comaraderie. Meanwhile, governments are walking a tightrope. "Iraq is against the war but has not condemned it nor taken a side," said political analyst Ihsan Alshamary, who heads the Political Thought Think Tank in Baghdad. Iraq needs to remain neutral because it has shared interests with both Russia and the West, he said. He said Iran's allies in the region are outspokenly with Russia "because they are anti-American and anti-West and believe that Russia is their ally."Russia has invested up to $14 billion in Iraq and the northern Kurdish-run region, mainly focusing on the energy sector, Moscow's ambassador Elbrus Kutrashev told the Iraqi Kurdish news agency Rudaw in a recent interview. Among the major oil companies operating in the country are Russia's Lukoil, Gazprom Neft and Rosneft. Iraq also maintains close ties with the U.S., but Western companies have steadily been plotting to exit from Iraq's oil sector.
Iraq's strongest move so far came after its central bank advised the prime minister against signing new contracts with Russian companies or payments in light of U.S. sanctions. The decision will impact new Russian investment in the country, but little else, Russian industry officials said. Last week, Iraq was among the 35 countries that abstained from a U.N. General Assembly vote to demand that Russia stop its offensive and withdraw troops from Ukraine. Lebanon voted in favor, while Syria, where Russian ties run deep, voted against. Iran also abstained. In Syria, where Russia maintains thousands of troops, billboards proclaiming, "Victory for Russia" popped up in areas of Damascus this week. In opposition-held areas, which still get hit by Russian airstrikes, residents hope pressure will ease on them if Russia gets bogged down in fighting in Ukraine. In Iraq, the Ukraine war is highlighting divisions in an already fractured landscape during stalled efforts to form a new government, five months after parliament elections were held. The huge billboard in support of Putin was briefly put up in a Baghdad neighborhood considered a stronghold of powerful Iranian-backed militias. After it was removed, the Russian Embassy in Baghdad tweeted an image of it. "The poster was provocative, I am against it," said Athir Ghorayeb, who works at a nearby coffee shop. Iraq is only just emerging from decades of war and conflict, he said. "Why do they insist on involving us in new problems?"Many Iraqis see in Russia's invasion of Ukraine echoes of Saddam Hussein's invasion of neighboring Kuwait and subsequent years-long economic sanctions placed on Iraq. It was only a few days ago that Iraq finished paying reparations to Kuwait which totaled more than $52 billion. On social media, Iraqi pages on Facebook with millions of followers have posted news of what is happening in Ukraine, sharing their views. "Our hearts are with the civilians, as those who have tasted war know its catastrophes," posted one user, Zahra Obaidi. "We have tents for refugees and internally displaced people, so you're welcome to come use them," Hafidh Salih posted. Toby Dodge, a professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, said Iraq's moves — abstaining from the U.N. vote while limiting economic activity — were prudent, managing the short-term risks without taking an ideological stance. But the longer the war drags on, the harder it will be to maintain this strategy. "Iraq is deeply divided politically amongst players between pro-Iran and those that are anti-Iran trying to assert autonomy. The Ukraine becomes another performance, another example of where either side can burnish their credentials," he said.

Audio From FDD/Erdogan’s Diplomatic U-Turn: Prospects and Pitfalls in Turkish-Israeli Relations
TRANSCRIPT/MARCH 7, 2022
Introductory remarks:
Ambassador Eric S. Edelman, Chair and Senior Advisor, FDD’s Turkey Program
Speakers (clockwise from top-left):
Gallia Lindenstrauss, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for National Security Studies
Enia Krivine, Senior Director, FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network
Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, Researcher, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies; Turkey Analyst, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security
Aykan Erdemir, Senior Director, FDD’s Turkey Program
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDED BELOW.
About
Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s March 9 visit to Turkey will be the first visit by an Israeli head of state since 2007. Jerusalem has expressed cautious optimism to the diplomatic course correction of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who until recently had been a vocal critic of the Abraham Accords. The historic normalization agreements have flourished as Arab countries have elected to de-prioritize historical animosities with Israel and instead emphasize their own national interests, leading to deeper economic, diplomatic, and defense cooperation. At the same time, Erdogan faces a collapsing economy, rising domestic opposition to his rule, conflict with Arab neighbors and traditional Western allies, and new turmoil in the region with Russian troops invading Ukraine.
On the heels of his similar overtures to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, what are the key drivers of Erdogan’s change of heart and outreach to Israel? Is the Turkish president willing to curb his support for Hamas and anti-Israel vitriol? Can Erdogan’s Turkey, which facilitated Iran’s sanctions evasion schemes at the height of U.S. sanctions, find common ground with Israel to push back against the Islamic Republic’s hegemonic ambitions in the Middle East and beyond?

Canada/Minister Joly concludes trip to Switzerland, Poland, Belgium and Romania
March 8, 2022 – Bucharest, Romania - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today concluded a productive trip to Switzerland, Poland, Belgium and Romania during which she met with multiple allies to discuss Russia’s unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine.
As the broader threat of Russia’s actions in Ukraine ripples across Europe and the world, the Minister reiterated that Canada will continue to engage the international community to strongly condemn President Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and to urge Russia to return to the negotiating table in good faith.
While in Geneva, Switzerland, Minister Joly attended the 49th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, where she highlighted Russia’s human rights violations taking place in Ukraine and underscored the importance of international cooperation in promoting and protecting human rights. She also delivered remarks at the Conference on Disarmament, where she underlined the growing threats to global security, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.
To gain a better perspective on the situation in Ukraine, Minister Joly visited Poland, where a large number of refugees are seeking asylum as a result of Russian President Putin’s actions. In Warsaw, Minister Joly met with Marcin Przydacz, Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland to discuss the rising humanitarian crisis and Poland’s efforts to assist those fleeing from the conflict in Ukraine. The Minister also met with newly-arrived refugees in Rzeszow, alongside Mayor Konrad Fijolek, who shared the impacts of Russia’s invasion on their lives.
In Brussels, Belgium, the Minister participated in an extraordinary meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers to discuss the Alliance’s coordinated response to President Putin’s aggression against Ukraine. Minister Joly also attended the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting and reaffirmed the importance of a united G7 response to Russia’s egregious actions, including sanctions measures. In addition, Minister Joly participated in meetings with the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, and European Commission President von der Leyen, where she discussed close international cooperation to put maximum pressure on Russia.
During her time in Bucharest, Romania, Minister Joly met with Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, as well as Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, to discuss the security situation in Europe and how Canada can further assist Ukraine’s neighbouring countries in their response to Russia’s unwarranted and unjustifiable invasion. She also visited the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base on the Black Sea, where she reiterated Canada’s support to Romania’s security priorities.
Minister Joly will join Prime Minister Trudeau in Germany, to continue coordinating Canada’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Quotes
“As threats to peace and security increase, our response must remain coordinated, clear and united. Canada is determined to do its part and work alongside our allies and partners to support Ukraine and its people as they fight with courage and resilience to protect their freedom.”
- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Quick facts
Since 2014, Canada has provided Ukraine with more than $890 million in multifaceted assistance to support Ukraine’s security, prosperity, and reform objectives. In addition, the government announced additional funding on February 14, 2022, with up to $500 million through the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act, and on January 21 $120 million in loans through the Sovereign Loans Program (SLP) to support the country’s economic resilience and governance reforms.
To address the most pressing humanitarian needs on the ground in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, Canada announced an additional $100 million in humanitarian assistance to be delivered through experienced partners, in addition to our previously announced aid and multi-year programming assistance.
Canada also announced the extension and expansion of our Operation UNIFIER. Under Op UNIFIER, Canada has trained nearly 35,000 Ukrainian military and security personnel. We will also be sharing intelligence and providing support to enhance Ukraine’s cyber security.

Canada/Statement by ministers Joly, Sajjan and Ng on International Women’s Day
March 8, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, and the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, today issued the following statement:
“On this International Women’s Day, the world is united in support of Ukrainian women and girls as they show incredible courage and resolve in the face of the Russian regime’s brutal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine.
“Canada is unwavering in our support of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence. We stand with the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom and their right to choose their own future. Canada has provided more than $1 billion in international assistance to Ukraine and continues to work with partners and allies to impose severe costs on the Russian regime for its actions.
“Women and girls are disproportionately affected by conflict and by climate change, which is why Canada’s feminist foreign policy and Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy have women and girls at the centre of everything we do.
“This year’s theme for International Women’s Day, Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow, reminds us how climate change exacerbates social inequalities and threatens the health, safety and economic well-being of women and girls. Canada recognizes that environment and climate action will be most effective when women and girls play an active role.
“We are proud that our Feminist International Assistance Policy has made environment and climate action a core focus and puts women and girls at the heart of its efforts. In 2021, Canada doubled its previous commitment to international climate finance to $5.3 billion over 5 years [2021 to 2026] and anticipates that at least 80% of projects will integrate gender equality.
“Canada also pursues gender equality and women’s economic empowerment through inclusive trade policies. All our free trade agreements since 2017 seek to include comprehensive, progressive chapters on gender, labour and the environment. We are actively providing more opportunities for women to grow their businesses in Canada and abroad.
“Canada’s increased commitment to climate finance recognizes that urgent action is needed. Over the past year, Canada has helped lead 2 successful virtual trade missions to Africa and France for women-owned and women-led businesses. These missions focused on sustainability and renewable energy and have helped women entrepreneurs explore new business opportunities and establish new networks.
“In addition, last fall at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow, United Kingdom, Canada joined the Feminist Action for Climate Justice coalition. We committed to encouraging equal opportunities for women in the clean energy sector. We also pledged to support the UN Convention to Combat Desertification Gender Action Plan and the creation of the Census of Environment, which will provide insight on gender and climate change.
“Gender equality today is essential for a sustainable tomorrow. As a long-standing advocate of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, Canada will continue to promote the advancement of women and girls in all their diversity.”

50 Detained in East Libya after Prison Escape
Associated Press/March 08/2022
Libya's east-based army rounded up at least 50 people in a coastal city following a prison escape earlier this year, a rights group said Tuesday. Human Rights Watch said in a statement that an armed group affiliated with the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces launched the crackdown after five prisoners escaped from a prison in the city of Derna on Jan. 16. It said the five prisoners were arrested again four days later. But the armed group, Tarek Bin Ziyad Battalion, continued detain others in the city, including relatives of the five and former detainees and their families. "Once again, unaccountable LAAF forces resort to brutal tactics to instill fear and terror among Derna residents," said Eric Goldstein, deputy regional director at HRW. Goldstein called fort the release of those arbitrarily detained and reveal the whereabouts of anyone still in detention. A spokesman for the LAAF was not immediately available for comment. The LAAF, led by powerful commander Khalifa Hifter, controls Libya's east and much of the south. It captured Derna after fighting with militant groups in 2018. Hifter's forces have brought a sense of stability in areas they control but they employed a more aggressive crackdown on activists and NGOs.Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed long-time ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The country is largely controlled by an array of militias profiting for decade-old chaos and civil wars.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 08-09/2022
Biden on verge of making worst deal ever with Iran
Richard Goldberg/FDD/March 08/2022
As the civilian death toll mounts in Ukraine and the world prepares for unspeakable crimes against humanity yet to come, the Biden administration said Friday it’s close to announcing a Russian-brokered deal with Iran that will flood the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism with billions of dollars and leave Tehran on the nuclear weapons threshold. While the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was bad enough, the coming deal is even worse. Much has changed in the years since the Obama administration entered the old Iran deal — an agreement that let Iran keep enriching uranium, developing nuclear-capable missiles and sponsoring terrorism in exchange for billions of dollars in US sanctions relief. A deal that would supposedly put Iran’s nuclear program in check and lead a radical regime to moderation failed to do either.
The Obama White House claimed the Iran deal guaranteed the most intrusive inspections the world had ever known, but only Israel’s Mossad found the evidence Iran was cheating — a secret nuclear weapons archive that the mullahs kept hidden before, during and after negotiating the Iran deal. That archive led inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, to at least four previously unknown sites inside Iran. At three of them, the inspectors found traces of uranium.
The full extent of Iran’s cheating remains unknown. Inspections haven’t gotten any more intrusive; Iranian military sites remain off limits.
Russia has been a leading opponent of the IAEA’s probe in Iran for years. Since Moscow regularly breaks its own international treaty obligations — whether in the use of chemical weapons or the war crimes we see today in Ukraine — Russian diplomats work overtime to shield rogue nations like Iran and Syria from accountability.
The new deal takes Moscow’s side — flouting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, lifting sanctions and legitimizing Iran’s nuclear program without first demanding a full accounting of previous and current violations. Put simply, it is an agreement knowingly built on deceit that will encourage other authoritarian regimes to violate their international commitments.
Another important change since 2015: We know so much more about the ways in which key Iranian banks and companies finance terrorism. The Obama administration told Congress that nothing in the Iran deal precluded America from imposing terrorism sanctions on Iran. Congress, on a bipartisan basis, took that promise to heart and directed the Trump administration to impose sanctions on affiliates of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Today, the Central Bank of Iran, the National Iranian Oil Company and hundreds more entities are subject to US terrorism sanctions — not nuclear sanctions — due to indisputable evidence showing their involvement in financing terrorism. To lift sanctions on these banks and firms without any indication of behavioral change will be unprecedented. The deal will directly subsidize the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations — a win for another Russian client state, Syria, as well.
In January, 1,200 Gold Star family members wrote to President Biden urging him not to release any funds to Iran until the Islamic Republic first paid off the $60 billion in judgments owed to American victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism. To date, the White House has not responded to their plea. The deal may go even further and remove the IRGC from the State Department’s official list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations — not only making America less safe but weakening legal cases pursued by these and other victims of terrorism.
What must Iran do in exchange for $100 billion in sanctions relief, freedom from terrorism sanctions and a blind eye toward its nuclear secrets? Not much. Iran will be able to threaten the world at a time of its choosing since it can keep enriching uranium and developing long-range nuclear-capable missiles to menace the American homeland. And the infamous sunset provisions of the old deal remain in place — they ensure the near-term expiration (or “sunset”) of all key restrictions. This sets up a nuclear crisis as early as 2025 even if Iran abides by the terms of the new agreement.
That American and other Western hostages will be released as part of the agreement will be celebrated. That is, until Iran takes another hostage and then another, knowing the Biden administration will likely pay huge sums for their release.
The Biden White House will say it’s all Donald Trump’s fault. The Iran deal was working. Maximum pressure failed. It’s this deal or war.
None of that is true.
Iran was cheating on the old deal from the very start and using its benefits to destabilize the Middle East. Which is exactly what they will do again, thanks to the new worst deal in history, brokered by Russia at the Biden administration’s request. It ensures the United States will face an increasingly imminent choice of military action against Iran or accepting an Iranian nuclear weapon.
*Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, served as a National Security Council official, deputy chief of staff to former US Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and US Navy Reserve Intelligence Officer. He was sanctioned by Iran in 2020. Follow him on Twitter @rich_goldberg. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Trudeau’s Double Standards on Iranian Immigrants
Alireza Nader/Macdonald-Laurier Institute/March 08/2022
Canadian-Iranians must hold Trudeau accountable for his promises, including finding justice for the PS752 families, writes Alireza Nader.
Canada’s treatment of Iranian immigrants demonstrates the Trudeau government’s double standards on Iran. On one hand, Ottawa allows Islamic Republic officials to live openly in cities such as Toronto. On the other hand, it deports innocent Iranian residents back to Iran, where they could face imprisonment or even execution.
Morteza Talaei, Tehran’s police chief from 2001 to 2006, was recently spotted exercising at a Toronto-area gym, enjoying the perks of Canadian life. Talaei has presided over numerous human rights abuses, including the imprisonment and torture of pro-democracy dissidents as well as the enforcement of a draconian dress code on Iranian women. Yet Ottawa granted him entry into (and possibly) residency in Canada. He seems to feel safe enough to appear in public.
At the same time, the Canadian government recently deported an elderly Iranian man from Canada back to Iran, where he is likely to face imprisonment, torture, and possibly execution. The 85-year-old Mizraali Vaezaddeh had been living in Canada since 1997, but Ottawa denied him permanent residency due to his work for the SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police and intelligence service, which engaged in human rights abuses during the Shah’s rule.
Yet Vaezaddeh’s family claims that his work for the intelligence agency was short, and that he did not engage in torture. According to his lawyer, his work for SAVAK was “decades ago, and he did have an extremely insignificant and short-term role.” Whatever the nature of his work for SAVAK, Vaezaddeh’s deportation will spell doom for him. The ruling Islamic Republic is deeply hostile toward the Shah and SAVAK, and routinely imprisons, tortures, and executes young and old opponents alike. It is unlikely to show any mercy to Vaezaddeh.
Ottawa’s policy is cruel and disappointing to Canada’s émigré Iranian community, whose members have consistently pressured Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to adopt tougher policies against the regime.
In particular, Canadian-Iranians are still waiting for Trudeau to deliver on his pledge to find “answers” to the 2020 downing of Ukrainian flight PS752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which resulted in the deaths of 158 Canadian-Iranian citizens and permanent residents. To date, Canada has failed to take any punitive actions against the regime, such as sanctioning the IRGC, an action recommended by the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.
The Canadian government has also been slow to investigate the regime’s network and illicit activities, including money-laundering and regime investments in Canada.
Some Canadian-Iranians, including family members of the victims of flight PS752, have received threats of physical harm from the regime for their vocal criticism of Tehran. Though they are mostly opposed to the Islamic Republic, Canadian-Iranians nevertheless contains include pro-regime elements, members of which have openly rallied for the Islamic Republic on Canadian city streets.
Trudeau’s government must carefully review its Iran policy to make sure similar deportations do not occur in the future. Ottawa should judge each case on its individual merits rather than subject them to blanket immigration laws that produce more harm than good. Separating an old man from his family to go to certain death or torture in Iran serves no one justice. Rather than deport men like Vaezaddeh, Canada should prevent former regime officials like Talaei from entering the country.
Canadian-Iranians must hold Trudeau accountable for his promises, including finding justice for the PS752 families. He can reassure them by being tough on the regime.
*Alireza Nader is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow Alireza on Twitter @AlirezaNader. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Time to Sanction Russia’s Alternative to SWIFT
Matthew Zweig and John Hardie/Policy Brief/March 08/2022
Per an agreement with Washington and other Western allies, the European Union last week prohibited the SWIFT financial messaging system from providing services to seven Russian banks sanctioned over Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. The SWIFT cut-off will sever critical ties between Russia and the global marketplace, but Moscow will likely try to employ its parallel messaging system, SPFS, to mitigate the cost of sanctions.
SWIFT, or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a Belgium-based global messaging system that facilitates transactions between over 11,000 financial institutions around the world. On February 26, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States agreed to remove “selected Russian banks” from SWIFT. Brussels followed through on March 2, requiring SWIFT to cut ties with VTB Bank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Sovcombank, Promsvyazbank, and Rossiya Bank, including their majority-owned subsidiaries.
The U.S. Treasury Department had designated the first six of those banks on February 22 and 24 and Rossiya Bank in 2014, while the European Union sanctioned VEB, Promsvyazbank, and Rossiya Bank on February 23. These designations prohibit U.S. and EU persons from transacting with the sanctioned banks. The U.S. designations will make them toxic to most major firms around the world given the central role of the U.S. financial system.
Combining the SWIFT cut-off with individual designations is important for two reasons. First, losing access to SWIFT does not necessarily preclude a bank from transacting with other financial institutions. While most partners will eschew banks cut off from SWIFT, some might continue their business by relying on less efficient alternatives. Second, and relatedly, disconnecting Russian banks from SWIFT without first precluding transactions with them could perversely promote the use of alternatives to SWIFT.
Russia began developing its SWIFT alternative, known as SPFS, or the System for Transfer of Financial Messages, in 2014 amid fears that Russian banks could be booted from SWIFT. Moscow fully launched the system in December 2017. According to Russia’s central bank, SPFS had 338 users as of March 3. They include major Russian financial institutions and other companies as well as a relatively small number of foreign banks, many of them subsidiaries of Russian banks. The system currently handles about one-fifth of Russia’s total domestic payments.
Over the longer-term, Russia may also look to CIPS, or China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System. Launched in 2015, the system is designed to promote use of the renminbi in international settlements, with messaging flows going through either CIPS or SWIFT. Moscow and Beijing have previously discussed linking SPFS and CIPS as part of their broader efforts to undermine the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.
While far inferior to SWIFT, SPFS and CIPS could offer alternatives for undesignated Russian banks in the event that Russia completely loses access to SWIFT, as Kyiv and many U.S. policymakers have advocated. China may be unwilling to risk allowing sanctioned Russian banks to use CIPS, but those banks could use SPFS to facilitate transactions with any foreign partners still willing to work with them.
With President Vladimir Putin so far unwilling to de-escalate in Ukraine, Washington and its allies should urgently look for additional ways to ratchet up the economic pressure on Moscow. This should include working closely with European allies to designate additional Russian banks and cut them off from SWIFT, working toward comprehensive isolation of the Russian financial sector.
To support these efforts, Washington and its allies should target SPFS to undercut Russia’s ability to use the system as an alternative to SWIFT for international transactions. For example, the Biden administration could announce that it will bar any financial institution connected to SPFS and above a certain capitalization threshold from using correspondent or payable-through accounts in the United States. Using Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, Treasury could also require U.S. financial institutions and agencies to reject transactions that directly or indirectly utilize SPFS.
With Russian forces currently moving to encircle Kyiv, Washington and its allies have no time to spare.
*Matthew Zweig is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where John Hardie is research manager and a research analyst. They both contribute to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from the authors and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Matthew on Twitter @MatthewZweig1. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.

Biden Administration Appeases Mullahs, Iran Escalates Assassinations
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/March 08/2022
[A]t least two men from Iran's Quds Force... are planning to assassinate former US National Security Advisor John R. Bolton.... However, Biden administration officials do not want to indict the Iranian assassins, for fear of disrupting the "progress" in Vienna, Austria, of a globally catastrophic "nuclear deal," during which the interests of the United States are being negotiated by – Russia!
Similar assassination plots, according to the report, also exist against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials serving the United States now or who have served.
Iran's theocratic regime also targets foreign political leaders and diplomats whom the regime opposes. The Iranian regime is known to have "target packages" which most likely include foreign citizens or residents who are human rights defenders, critics of the Iranian leaders, political activists, and dissidents.
The Biden administration and the EU, instead of rewarding Iran's terrorist regime with billions of dollars, international legitimacy and a full-blown nuclear weapons program to unleash on the world, should hold the regime accountable for its countless terror activities and nuclear and missile programs, by resuming "maximum pressure" sanctions...
Most importantly, the EU needs to officially designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies as terrorist organizations.
The more the Biden administration appeases Iran's regime, lifts sanctions against it, and funds and empowers its brutal expansionism, the more the ruling mullahs will be empowered to carry out savagery at home and assassinations, terrorism and marauding abroad.
At least two men from Iran's Quds Force are reportedly planning to assassinate former US National Security Advisor John R. Bolton. However, Biden administration officials do not want to indict the Iranian assassins, for fear of disrupting the "progress" in Vienna, Austria, of a globally catastrophic "nuclear deal." Pictured: Major-General Hossein Salami, chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), of which the Quds Force is a branch.
The ruling mullahs are carrying out assassination plots abroad with impunity. All the while, not only is the Biden administration suppressing the information and refusing to indict the assassins, but it also keeps appeasing the mullahs by lifting sanctions.
Yesterday Tom Rogan reported in the Washington Examiner that at least two men from Iran's Quds Force, one of the five branches of Iran's notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are planning to assassinate former US National Security Advisor John R. Bolton. The plot is "believed to be rooted in Iran's desire to avenge" the take-down of General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, who was killed in a 2020 US drone strike.
However, Biden administration officials do not want to indict the Iranian assassins, for fear of disrupting the "progress" in Vienna, Austria, of a globally catastrophic "nuclear deal," during which the interests of the United States are being negotiated by – Russia! Similar assassination plots, according to the report, also exist against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials serving the United States now or who have served.
The new deal -- which, like the original 2015 "JCPOA" deal, would presumably not be presented for approval by the Congress -- would, according to the journalist Caroline Glick (citing Gabriel Noronha, a former Iran specialist at the State Department) delist Iran's IRGC from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. In addition:
"... Noronha's colleagues said Malley has agreed to sanctions relief that will provide Iran with an immediate cash infusion of $90 billion, as well as an additional $50-55 billion annually in oil and gas profits.
"On the nuclear front, beyond a few formalities, Biden's deal will enable Iran to move full-speed ahead with its development of advanced centrifuges and continue its race to the nuclear finish line. All limitations—which are largely unenforceable—will be removed in two and a half years. And Iran's nuclear program, which constitutes a material breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of which Iran is a signatory, will be legitimated by the UN and the U.S. government."
Also recently, Israel's intelligence services foiled an assassination attempt against Israeli businessman Yair Geller in Turkey. The Iranian cell, consisting of nine individuals, was reportedly run by Yassin Tahermkandi, age 53, an Iranian-based intelligence officer, and Saleh Mushtag Bhighus, his Turkish counterpart.
While the Iranian regime attempted to murder a citizen of Israel, an American ally, not a word of condemnation was issued by the Biden administration. Moreover, this was not the first time that the Iranian regime has attempted to carry out assassinations in Turkey, an ally of Iran's ruling mullahs. Turkey, in fact, appears to have has become an important hub for the Iranian regime from which to target foreign citizens or dissidents.
Last year, for instance, the Turkish authorities detained Mohammed Reza Naderzadeh, an employee at the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul, for his role in murdering a critic of Iran, Massoud Molavi Vardanjani, in November 2019. Naderzadeh allegedly forged travel documents for Ali Esfandiari, who orchestrated the assassination. The Iranian regime then targeted Vardanjani due to his social media campaign, which was aimed at exposing corruption in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its Quds Force branch, Iran's theocratic establishment. He defected after serving as an intelligence officer for the Iranian government and he wrote on social media: "I will root out the corrupt mafia commanders... Pray that they don't kill me before I do this."
Additionally, a British television executive, Saeed Karimian, who was the founder of Gem TV, which runs 17 Persian-language TV channels, was shot dead in Istanbul in 2017. Before his murder, he had been convicted in absentia in Iran allegedly for spreading propaganda against the regime.
These kinds of assassination orders likely come from the very top of the theocratic establishment in Iran. As a "senior administration official" pointed out:
"Given Iran's history of targeted assassinations of Iranian dissidents and the methods used in Turkey, the United States government believes that Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security was directly involved in Vardanjani's killing."
Turkey's close relationship with Iran has emboldened and empowered the Iranian regime reportedly to plot assassinations on the Turkish soil.
Iran's theocratic regime also targets foreign political leaders and diplomats whom the regime opposes. The Iranian regime is known to have "target packages" which most likely include foreign citizens or residents who are human rights defenders, critics of the Iranian leaders, political activists, and dissidents. Some of the regime's targets are also politicians or diplomats from those countries that Iran views as rivals, such as the US and Saudi Arabia. For instance, in a well-known case, two Iranian nationals were convicted of plotting to assassinate Adel Al-Jubeir, now Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, at a restaurant in Washington, DC in 2011, when he was the Saudi ambassador to the United States.
The Iranian regime's assassination and terror plots can also be found in Europe. Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in jail in Belgium over his role in a 2018 terrorist plot. Assadi had delivered 500 grams of the powerful explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP) to his accomplices, with the aim of bombing an Iranian opposition rally in Paris. Had the plot not been discovered at the last minute, the bombing could have left hundreds dead, including international dignitaries and many European parliamentarians. Another Iranian agent, Mohammed Davoudzadeh Loloei, was sentenced to prison by a Danish court for being an accessory to the attempted murder of one or more opponents of the Iranian regime.
The Biden administration and the EU, instead of rewarding Iran's terrorist regime with billions of dollars, international legitimacy and a full-blown nuclear weapons program to unleash on the world, should hold the regime accountable for its countless terror activities and nuclear and missile programs, by resuming "maximum pressure" sanctions until Iran changes the way it treats its own people as well as its neighbors. As has been asked: Why should a country that does not treat its own people well treat another country any better?
Western governments need to adopt a firm policy and even legislation to expel Iranian "diplomats" and intelligence agents, some of whom who might even be plotting further terrorist attacks and assassinations. Most importantly, the EU needs to officially designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies as terrorist organizations.
The more the Biden administration appeases Iran's regime, lifts sanctions against it, and funds and empowers its brutal expansionism, the more the ruling mullahs will be empowered to carry out savagery at home (eg: here, here and here) and assassinations, terrorism and marauding abroad.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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كبريال نونها/ذي تابلت: الأتفاق النووي الذي يستقتل بايدن لتحقيقه مع ملا لي إيران هو اٍسوأ بكثر من ذاك الذي وقعه معهم اوباما
This Isn’t Obama’s Iran Deal. It’s Much, Much Worse.
Gabriel Noronha/The Tablet/March 08/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106893/gabriel-noronha-the-tablet-this-isnt-obamas-iran-deal-its-much-much-worse-%d9%83%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%84-%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86%d9%87%d8%a7-%d8%b0%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%a7/
The last thing the world needs is another nuclear-armed dictatorship flush with cash and attacking its neighbors. But that’s what President Biden and his Iran envoy Robert Malley are creating in the deal they are about to close in Vienna, according to career State Department sources.
Anyone seeking to gauge the imminent outcome of the international talks over Iran’s nuclear program being held in Vienna should take a look at reports from late January that three top U.S. diplomats had quit—largely in protest over the direction set by U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, who serves as the U.S. government’s chief negotiator.
Having served for two years in former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Iran Action Group, I knew that this development was tantamount to a public cry for an intervention. Such resignations—not of conservative dissenters, but of career staff and President Joe Biden’s own political appointees—should have been cause for Biden or Secretary Antony Blinken to recall Malley and investigate. Their failure to do so is a sign either of a troubling lack of attention to the talks, or else the possibility that Malley—who served in the same capacity under President Barack Obama when the first Iran deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was originally negotiated and signed—has been given a free hand to negotiate whatever he wants, as long as he gets Iran to sign.
Evidence for the latter view can be gleaned from the fact that Blinken has reneged on his pledge that his Iran negotiating team would have “a diversity of views.” Instead, he has let Malley continue to concede issue after issue in Vienna. Multiple career officials view these capitulations as so detrimental to U.S. national security that they contacted me requesting that I rapidly share details of these concessions with Congress and the public in an effort to stop them.
Reports out of Vienna indicate that a deal could occur within the next few days. While some issues are still being ironed out—such as whether the United States will grant Russia immunity from any economic sanctions relating to Iran, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has publicly demanded—the details that follow have been conveyed to me as finalized. My subsequent discussions with foreign diplomats—including those directly involved and those outside but close to the negotiations—confirmed their claims. Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov, who led negotiations on behalf of Russia, has crowed that “Iran got much more than it could expect. Much more,” and bragged about how Russia teamed up with China and Iran to get dozens of wins over the United States and European negotiating positions.
The list of concessions that follows is long, detailed, disturbing, but also somewhat technical. But this much is clear to me: The deal being negotiated in Vienna is dangerous to U.S. national security, to the stability of the Middle East, and to the Iranian people who suffer most under that brutal regime. The lack of evidence to justify a removal of U.S. sanctions is illegal, and the deal that will be foisted upon the world without the support of Congress will be illegitimate. This deal will not serve U.S. interests in either the short or long term.
With Robert Malley in the lead, the United States has promised to lift sanctions on some of the regime’s worst terrorists and torturers, on leading officials who have developed Iran’s WMD infrastructure, and has agreed to lift sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) itself. In exchange, Iran will receive fewer limitations than those imposed under the JCPOA, and the restrictions on its nuclear program will expire six years sooner than under the terms of the old deal. And that’s just the beginning.
The Biden administration is preparing to end sanctions under Executive Order (E.O.) 13876, known as the Supreme Leader’s Office E.O., as soon as the deal is finalized. This would lift sanctions on nearly all of the 112 people and entities sanctioned under that authority, even if they were sanctioned under other legal authorities as well. This move is significant because the United States has used this authority to sanction some of the most evil people you can possibly imagine. Malley and his Russian go-betweens in Vienna have agreed that these people should now be free to roam around the world despite their murderous pasts, unshackled from any restraints on their financing, and plotting new terror attacks.
If that sounds like an exaggeration, believe me: It isn’t. Let’s start with the terrorists, like Mohsen Rezaei, who was involved in the AMIA bombing in Argentina in 1994 that killed 85 people when he was commander-in-chief of the IRGC. Argentine authorities issued international warrants for his arrest, and he remains on Interpol’s Red Notice. Equally culpable in the AMIA bombing is Ali Akbar Velayati, who today serves as a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He was charged as being one of the “ideological masterminds” behind the attack. He also committed acts of terror in Syria, where he helped the Iranian regime extend credit lines to the brutal Assad regime. Under the nuclear impending deal, both Rezaei and Velayati would be removed from U.S. sanctions lists.
The victims of the Iranian regime span every single continent, but the terror suspects being desanctioned by the United States in particular have American blood on their hands—particularly IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, who led IRGC forces in Lebanon and Syria when Hezbollah bombed the Marines compound in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. service members, 58 French soldiers, and left hundreds more wounded.
Then there are the men like Ebrahim Raisi, who now reports to Supreme Leader Khamenei with the misleading title of president. Raisi participated in and ordered the execution of around 5,000 Iranians in the 1988 “Death Commissions” as a judge overseeing sham trials—including of young children—that typically lasted only a few minutes before guilty verdicts and death sentences were delivered. Raisi’s victims were loaded by forklifts in groups of six onto cranes and hanged every 30 minutes.
One of the few survivors “spared” was a woman who was taken to a torture chamber instead of to the crane on account of her pregnancy. She was repeatedly lashed and tortured by several men, and later said she remembered each of their faces, which were etched in her mind. She could not forget that of one young and callous man in particular: Ebrahim Raisi. Under the new nuclear deal, U.S. sanctions imposed against Raisi will be lifted.
The deal also lifts sanctions (which I was personally involved in imposing) against Ahmad Jannati, one of the regime’s most powerful and brutal clerics. Jannati is primarily responsible for rigging the country’s elections as chairman of the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts. But in his spare time, he leads massive rallies in “Death to America/England/Israel” chants. Jannati routinely pushes for the regime to kill protesters. “I thank the judiciary chief for executing two protesters,” he said in 2010 in the aftermath of the Green Movement, “and urge him to execute others if they do not give up such protests.” That fervor has not changed since the early days of the regime. When Jannati was told a prison in Khuzestan province was filling up with dissidents, he volunteered to go serve there as a “judge.” He proudly recounted: “I got busy working … for there was some doubt whether we should execute them all or not.”
Then there is their master, Khamenei himself, who is ultimately responsible for every act of terror and murder committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. We know that Khamenei has personally ordered the massacre of Iranians by his security forces. In November 2019, as brave Iranians took to the streets to protest the 40 years of corruption and oppression at the hands of the clerics, Khamenei assembled his top security team together and told them: “The Islamic Republic is in danger. Do whatever it takes to end it. You have my order.” In the ensuing days, about 1,500 Iranians were killed by the regime’s brute squads, including dozens of children and hundreds of women. This mass murderer will also be free of sanctions.
One of the most challenging responsibilities I had in the State Department was directing the human rights portfolio. For two years, I was in charge of documenting massacres like the one that Khamenei ordered, combing through biographies and photos of torture victims, including children, with bullet holes in their heads. I hope to never see such things again, but I fear that because of this deal, we all will.
Sometimes, in the day or two after the United States placed sanctions on such men, I would get a phone call or email from an Iranian who lost a loved one because of them. Many said it was the first time in years that they felt they had received a modicum of justice—that their pain had been heard in Washington—and they profusely thanked the United States. Sanctions are not merely economic, political, or diplomatic tools—they speak truth to evil.
If you hadn’t heard of such crimes before, it’s mostly thanks to a man named Javad Zarif, who served as the regime’s chief propagandist from 2013-2021. He had the misleading title of foreign minister, but that wasn’t his role in the regime. Zarif had little power to negotiate deals or set the foreign policy of the regime—that’s the IRGC’s job—so he was tasked with fluffing reporters and think tankers in Europe and the United States in the hopes of deceiving them about the regime’s true nature and radical intentions.
He also readily defended the regime’s executions of gay people. In 2019, Zarif was asked by a brave German reporter, “Why are homosexuals executed in Iran because of their sexual orientation?” “Our society has moral principles,” Zarif responded, “and we live according to these principles. These are moral principles concerning the behavior of people in general. And that means that the law is respected and the law is obeyed.” In plain language, Zarif was covering up for the fact that his regime has executed thousands of gay Iranians—between 4,000 and 6,000 according to some estimates. Zarif’s involvement in the regime’s international terror apparatus earned him U.S. sanctions in 2019. Those will be gone, too.
But the pending nuclear deal doesn’t just lift sanctions on people who come and go from power. This deal lifts sanctions on the various economic entities that fuel the regime’s machinery of repression. Most notably, it would lift sanctions on Khamenei’s personal slush funds known as “bonyads,” including Astan Quds Razavi and the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, which confiscated houses and billions of dollars from political dissidents and religious minorities to enrich Khamenei and his goons. Also free from restrictions will be the Bonyad Mostazafan, a massive conglomerate that systematically confiscated property from Jews and Bahai’s after 1979. Bonyad Mostazafan is enmeshed with the IRGC and served as a corruption network used to enrich top Iranian terrorists. All these groups and men have been sanctioned under E.O. 13876, the Supreme Leader’s Office sanctions authority, which the White House is preparing to end.
It’s important to note here that the Supreme Leader’s Office EO is in no way related to Iran’s nuclear program, and the removal of these sanctions under a so-called “nuclear deal” is a farce. The Trump administration lawyers who drafted this executive order were quite clear when we released it in 2019: It was a response to actions taken by Iran and its proxies to destabilize the Middle East, promote international terrorism, and advance Iran’s ballistic missile program. It was issued in response to Iran’s attack against U.S. military assets and civilian vessels.
The EO’s impending repeal makes clear that what Biden and Malley have in mind is not merely, or even mainly, a “nuclear deal” with Iran—it is an appeasement agreement that unshackles the Islamic Republic from any significant economic restrictions, regardless of whether it will enrich the regime’s apparatuses of terror.
Sanctions will be lifted on huge swaths of the regime’s economic and financial arms—close to 40 major entities—that support Iran’s terror, repression, and WMD infrastructure. These sanctions have not been “inconsistent with the JCPOA,” which is the justification that Blinken and Malley have claimed as justification for their repeal. The administration is lifting sanctions on economic arms of the Mehr Eqtesad network and Bonyad Taavon Basij, for example, which directly funds the Basij Resistance Force that recruits and trains child soldiers forced into combat.
The U.S. is not lifting sanctions on the Basij itself (which was the security entity responsible for killing most of the 1,500 Iranians in November 2019) because Iranian negotiators didn’t particularly care—they just wanted sanctions on the funding mechanisms lifted because that’s what actually matters. And Malley obliged. While serving as the mailed fist of the regime’s repression and brutalization of its own people, the Basij play no role whatsoever in Iran’s nuclear program.
Sanctions will also be lifted on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the National Development Fund (NDF), which were sanctioned under counterterrorism authorities for providing billions of dollars to the IRGC, the Quds Force, and Hezbollah. The CBI and NDF were sanctioned after Iran brazenly attacked energy infrastructure in eastern Saudi Arabia in September 2019, an act of war. These organizations still fund terrorism.
The deal will also lift sanctions on the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) that fund the Quds Force, which under Qassem Soleimani’s leadership was directly responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis and for the death of at least 603 Americans in Iraq from 2003-2011.
The Central Bank, NDF, NIOC, and NITC were all sanctioned under counterterrorism authorities approved by career interagency lawyers, including from the Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury. These sanctions came from a rigorous interagency process that ensured we would not impose them haphazardly; but once such a determination is made, they are not supposed to be lifted until it can be proven the sanctioned entities longer support terrorism. To be clear: They are. But Malley apparently found a way to badger and bully the career lawyers into submission so that these terror financiers will now be free from sanctions, too.
Perhaps most troubling is Malley’s persistent attempt to remove sanctions on the IRGC, which has plotted and carried out terrorist attacks in 35 countries around the world. As Pompeo disclosed last year, the IRGC is currently providing safe haven and logistical support for al-Qaida inside Iran. When Malley initially made an interagency request to remove the IRGC from the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list, he met severe resistance from startled career officials across government. Nevertheless, he persisted.
Instead of demanding that the Iranians cease conducting and supporting terrorism, Malley obliged repeated Iranian entreaties to remove the IRGC’s terror designation.
Instead of demanding that the Iranians cease conducting and supporting terrorism, Malley obliged repeated Iranian entreaties to remove the IRGC’s terror designation. At first, he proposed that it could be exchanged for an Iranian commitment to future talks on the terrorism and “regional issues” files. The Iranian negotiators and their Russian facilitators couldn’t believe their luck, and asked for more. They demanded that the concession must be unconditional, and that no future talks would be acceptable. Of course, a promise of future talks is all but meaningless given the American capitulation in Vienna. Either way, a foreign diplomat recently confirmed to me that the IRGC Foreign Terrorist Organization delisting has indeed been finalized.
So what have we received in exchange for all these concessions to the most vile men and institutions in Iran? Has the regime come clean about its clandestine nuclear activities or committed to stop nuclear enrichment? Has the regime committed to stop supporting terror and taking American hostages? The short answer on all counts is no.
The JCPOA’s sunset clauses have not been extended at all. Some JCPOA restrictions, like the United Nations arms embargo on Iran for importing or exporting conventional weapons, have already expired. All meaningful restrictions will expire over the next nine years. Iran will not make any concessions on its ballistic missile activity, its terrorist activity, its support for proxy groups, or its hostage-taking from the United States and other countries. But it will get money anyways—lots of it.
Iran is set to get access to a massive windfall of cash: My latest estimate (derived from figures declassified during my tenure at the State Department) is $90 billion in access to foreign exchange reserves, and then a further $50-$55 billion in extra revenue each year from higher oil and petrochemical exports, with no restrictions on how or where the money can be spent.
Personally, the most troubling transfer of funds will be the $7 billion ransom payment the United States is preparing to pay for the release of four Americans from an Iranian jail. Now, let me be clear: I would be extremely glad to bring these Americans back home safely as quickly as possible. They are innocent victims who, along with their families, have suffered unjustly for far too long. But make no mistake: Biden’s payment will only supercharge Iran’s hostage-taking industry.
After Obama paid Iran $1.7 billion for four Americans back in 2016 (including $400 million in literal pallets of cash), Iranian clerics and generals bragged about it for years—and some suggested that taking hostages could henceforth serve as a sound method for balancing Iran’s budget. Sadly, if Biden goes through with this deal, that could well be the case again. Seven billion dollars would amount to around one-third of Iran’s annual terror and security budget, fueling even more violence around the world and against Iranians. At prices like these, more Americans are sure to land in Evin Prison.
Each day, I learn more about the terrible deal coming out of Vienna. The degree of capitulation happening there is staggering, especially for those of us who worked in the technical trenches to impose these sanctions and monitor Iran’s nuclear program for years. That’s why nonpartisan career staffers are desperately asking for more oversight from Congress, even though Malley and the administration designed the negotiation process to take place without any congressional (and thus democratic representative) input. Administration officials have tried to make the case to lawyers internally that they are merely going back to the original JCPOA, and therefore do not need to submit the deal to Congress under the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) signed into law by the president.
That is not true. The Biden administration is not going back to the JCPOA. It has negotiated an entirely different agreement. And I can assure you it is much, much worse than the original.
*Gabriel Noronha served as Special Advisor for Iran in the U.S. Department of State Department from 2019-2020. He previously worked in the U.S. Senate from 2015-2019, including on the Senate Armed Services Committee for Chairmen John McCain and Jim Inhofe.